Possession: The Rise of Dark Matter
by Zero-Three
Summary: What if Dark Matter invaded the Kirby of the Stars/Kirby: Right Back at Ya universe? Several peaceful years after Nightmare's defeat, a new threat has come to Popstar...as well as a new ally. (MK X OC. LIGHT shipping.)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story about how it could go if Dark Matter were to invade the Kirby Anime universe. (This is take 2 of the idea, the first being the Galacta Knight story. I like combining elements of the game with the series for some reason...probably because the Anime characters are too fun to leave out. :D ) I also use the Anime names for characters exclusive to the Japanese version because I'm not a big fan of the dub - Fumu/Bun instead of Tiff/Tuff, Pupu Village instead of Cappy Town, etc. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.**

**DISCLAIMER – This fic has an OC in it and there will be (mild) shipping. I understand how that is not to everyone's tastes, and that's totally okay. You've been warned in advance! I do take every effort to keep the universe's characters as IC as possible, though.**

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**Chapter 1**

Small, dark blue eyes began to blink open, dull and bleary. Above them laid a small, domed roof, tinted a comforting dark blue from the dim morning light. A single yellow sunbeam drifted through the single-roomed house's window, tiny shadows of dust particles drifting in the morning light. The room dimmed, blurred and blackened; the eyes blinked several times before shutting stubbornly, unwilling to open and fully focus.

The darkness began to lighten, even behind closed eyes; slowly, reluctantly, they began to open again and stare at the brightening ceiling as more light crept into the room. Kirby knew that morning meant breakfast, and that he therefore had a very good reason to get up...but his bed was so warm and comfortable, the blankets and pillow so perfectly conformed to his spherical shape. With an annoyed grunt the small creature rolled over, pulling his blue star-patterned blanket over his head. Not yet. Just a few more minutes...

Something from within the depths of his body began to stir. A persistent urge, a yearning. He felt a pinching sensation from within and, moments later, heard a low growl from the depths of his stomach. Blurry images flashed into his drowsy mind; tomatoes, melons, ripe and juicy. Since it was breakfast time, he knew that there was a place to go to have freshly-squeezed orange juice straight from the fruit. With a tiny sigh Kirby sat up and threw the cover aside, stubby arms brought up to his face to rub his eyes. Sleeping on an empty stomach is impossible; he might as well go get breakfast.

Kirby stepped outside of his little house, closing the door behind him. As the sun's rays hit his face, he began to feel more awake. He stretched his malleable body, arms high in the air, before inhaling the morning air deeply. It was going to be a good day. He could tell already.

As he began to wander off into the countryside of Dreamland, he found himself inevitably heading towards the melon fields. He knew he shouldn't; he knew that at the castle he'd find a perfectly good breakfast of eggs, bacon, and orange juice waiting for him...but why drink orange juice when a fresh melon could satisfy his hunger and thirst at the same time? And why settle for a single meager breakfast ration when out in the melon fields, he could eat as much as he pleased? As he headed there, the angry face of Fumu suddenly popped into his head. "Aww, not again... don't do that! We'll get you melons if you want, but if you eat an entire field's worth you're hurting the farmer who worked so hard to grow them. He needs those too, you know!"

The memory made him grimace. Putting a right arm to his stomach, the creature sighed sadly. "Poyo..." he murmured, before spinning on his heel and heading towards King Dedede's castle. Melons were good, amazing even, but he didn't want to make his friends angry. No treat was worth that.

Kirby walked through the warm, sunny fields of the day, kicking up the wet dewy grass with his red shoes playfully as he headed towards the castle. It was days like this that he felt so alive, so free. He felt like running through the fields, but exerted control; running would make him really hungry. And when Kirby got really hungry, it wasn't pretty.

Suddenly, a flash of light caught the corner of Kirby's eye. He looked up to the sky, mouth open slightly in awe. A beautiful, thin trail of white cloud streaked across the uniform blue of the cloudless day, and at the end of it was a tiny light. Kirby's brow furrowed. A comet or meteor? Or could it be something else? It was still clear in his mind what happened the last time something crashed onto Dreamland; Magalor. Whatever this thing was, it could pose a great danger to Popstar.

Kirby's stomach growled again, as if it wanted to cry loudly enough to shake him out of his thoughts. In response the pink creature patted his stomach roughly several times with his arm, as if telling it to shut up; he was just going to have to deal with being really hungry today. Without hesitation, Kirby dashed towards the direction of the falling light.

Meta Knight sat in his bed, curled up with a thick book. Cold yellow eyes, glowing brightly from within his mask, scanned the pages in front of him. A gloved hand lazily turned the page, careful not to crease or bend its thinned, browning edges. The Star Warrior was reading a fascinating account of knights of another species; knights who saved "damsels" in distress, who fought dragons and monsters. Knights who were heroes, praised by even the King and Queen of their kingdom. This knight slayed the villain, a dragon, and rescued the woman. That was it. He didn't have to watch multiple copies of the monster he just slain rise from nothingness and crawl forward mindlessly, bred by Nightmare. This knight didn't have to worry about he and his comrades being systematically hunted down and killed by the slain dragon's allies. He wouldn't be haunted by the memories of the villagers that he couldn't save...

Meta Knight's eyes drifted upwards from the book, staring fixedly at the wall ahead of him. He slowly closed the aged tome, placing it on the end table beside him. Enough of that story.

His white gloved hand, augmented with silver metal, reached out towards the candy bowl next to the book. The hand absentmindedly fished around in the candy bowl, closing into a fist around several rainbow-colored, chocolate candy spheres. He loved them; they melted in his mouth, not in his glove. With a speed only obtained by endless repetition he quickly lifted his mask, mouth revealed for hardly a second, and popped the orbs into his mouth. The mask slowly lowered back onto his face, and he savored the candy with a pleased sigh. He could eat candy whenever he wanted; it wasn't like his species had teeth to worry about maintaining.

The Star Warrior was startled out of his sugar-induced bliss by the sight of a strange, streaking cloud outside his window. Immediately sitting up, cape wrapped around him, Meta Knight walked over to his window and peered outside of it curiously. His eyes narrowed. What was that thing? He knew that Popstar, whether due to its orbit or due to the growing popularity of its young savior Kirby, had a habit of getting intergalactic guests. Sometimes friendly...sometimes not. The blue knight walked away from the window while still wrapped in his cape, leaving his room within the castle and walking down the corridor. Whatever that thing in the sky was, it merited attention.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kirby dashed through the grass as fast as he could, the looming object in the sky growing closer and closer. At first, it was merely a ball of light; as he drew closer, he could make out features on the item. The object was oblong and had a strange, angular design; definitely made by a creature of sorts and not natural. Kirby frowned, pushing himself to run even faster.

Sword and Blade ran out from the front door of the castle, the two wordlessly following the command of their leader. Above them circled Meta Knight, bat-like wings spread like a vulture, flying ahead yet coasting in circles so as not to outpace them too much. Instead, Meta Knight chose to use the warm air currents provided by the sun to effortlessly lift him higher, trying to get as good a view of the object as possible. It was not long before the veteran realized that the ship was going to be landing fairly close to Dedede's castle. He swooped downwards until he was within earshot of Sword and Blade.

"I'm going ahead."

Meta Knight slowed his pace just enough to shout to them before flapping his wings fiercely to gain speed and altitude. He flew off fast enough to cause the red plume on Blade Knight's helmet to blow forward wildly, leaving his comrades behind as he tried to catch up to the object before it inevitably crashed on the ground.

Shortly behind the two knights were Fumu and Bun, panting as they tried to keep up with them. They were not alerted by the sight of the object itself, but instead by watching Meta Knight, Sword, and Blade suddenly dash through the halls of the castle. The two children knew that whenever the three knights moved out at once that something was going on, but they also knew that if they traveled alongside the knights that they would just be told to turn back for their safety. For that reason they hung behind, following the knights far back enough that they wouldn't get their attention. It was not until they exited the castle's front gates that they saw the curious, comet-like object hurtling through the sky.

"That must be it, sis!" Bun exclaimed, pointing at the object.

"I see it..." Fumu replied, breathless from her running. "Come on, we're falling too far behind!"

Kirby reached the object first. He watched it loom closer and closer in the sky, very visibly a ship that was on fire from entering the super-heated atmosphere without slowing down properly. The ship screamed towards the ground, the streak of 'clouds' from a closer view becoming more visible as a smoke trail. The ship coasted lower and lower before it hit land; off in the distance, a fiery black and orange plume rose in the sky. Kirby winced; whatever was in that ship might not make it out alive anyway.

In time, Kirby reached the clearing where the ship had crashed. It had landed and skidded a great distance, causing a crater in Popstar's crust. The area was dim from smoke, causing the small creature to squint and cough. Despite the dim visibility, he recognized what little he could see of the ship. The curves, the distinctive points, the bright yellow color – it was just like the one he arrived in! Taken aback, Kirby began to approach the ship slowly with his jaw dropped.

The small, yellow ship was visibly damaged, its round transparent window cracked from impact. Inside, a small lump was visible. Kirby, assuming that the star-shaped ship's controls were similar to his own, hopped up to the ship and tried to hit the switch of the broken ship's dome-shaped window, which doubled as its entry and exit point. The window shuddered and halfway opened, paused in the middle of its retraction by its own damage and causing glass and debris to rain on the occupant inside.

"Poyo!" Kirby exclaimed in frustration.

He hopped up on the ship's front hood again, leaning into the wreckage. Whatever the occupant was, it was covered in armor, which would at least have protected it from the glass shower it just endured. However, it was unresponsive. Was it dead? Kirby leaned in further, reaching an arm out tentatively, before a shard of glass poked him and caused him to yank his arm back.

"Poy!" Kirby cried, yanking back his arm and rubbing it tenderly. He couldn't get in there without help. Just as he turned to run to the castle, his sharp eyes caught sight of a blue winged form in the distance. At first, it looked like a giant bat; however, Kirby knew that there was only one creature around Dreamland with bat-like wings that flew in the daytime.

Meta Knight's acrobatic wings cut through the air, his blue form hurtling towards the site as fast as he could. He could see that it had already crashed; as he drew closer, he saw a tiny pink sphere moving around it.

"So Kirby has seen it, too. Good..." Meta Knight thought.

Meta Knight slowed his rate of speed to prepare for descent, wings tucking inwards and his body angled upright to drop his altitude. He beat his wings in the opposite direction several times to slow his descent further before dropping freely the last several feet, his wings going limp and reforming into a cape just as the armored knight touched the ground. He put out his gloved arms to brace himself and straightened up, running the remaining distance to Kirby and the doomed ship.

"Kirby." Meta Knight greeted him in his usual cold, terse way, dipping his head to the pink creature politely. "Are you alright?"

"Poyoyii!" Kirby replied, waving both of his arms in the air enthusiastically. He then pointed towards the ship, gesticulating with one arm while the other waved wildly. Kirby frowned, visibly upset, and anxiously hopped from one foot to the other as he spoke. "Poyo, poyo poi, poyoyo..."

Meta Knight raised a hidden brow. "Uh..."

He wasn't sure how long it would take the young boy to learn how to talk, but he really wished that the time would come. His yellow eyes drifted in the direction of Kirby's pointing and he saw the half-opened, damaged door and the small, armored form inside, golden armor glinting from the sun.

"That's not good."

Meta Knight proceeded to creep towards the ship, his manner slow and deliberate, one arm poised to unsheathe Galaxia at a moment's notice. He felt compelled to rescue the being inside, or if worse came to worst, give it a proper burial, because it arrived in a similar ship to the one Kirby had arrived in. That was at least a clue that the ship's sole occupant was probably friendly. However, he trusted nothing that crash landed in Dreamland.

The knight eventually reached the ship and crawled onto the front hood, where Kirby had been standing before. Because his arms were protected by white gloves and silver gauntlets, the Star Warrior was able to bypass the glass and reach inside. From his view into the wreckage, he could more easily identify the doomed ship's pilot. Lying in the cockpit was a small, round creature, undoubtedly a member of his and Kirby's species. It was covered in pale gold armor with a three-pointed design on the helm, and what little skin he could see of it appeared to be sky blue. In one hand it held a spear; in the other, a large round buckler emblazoned with a star and wing design. Seeing the fallen warrior up close caused the veteran to breathe a sigh of relief; this was no enemy.

"Kirby...it's another Star Warrior." He tore his gaze away from the sight to glance at Kirby, who noted that Meta Knight's eyes began to glow green.

"Poyo poy?" Kirby asked.

"Is it dead? I don't know." Meta Knight replied absentmindedly, before blinking as he realized he somehow understood through context what Kirby's poyo-babble was trying to communicate.

Meta Knight began to carefully clear the glass away from the damaged window's entrance, making sure that when they did extricate the Star Warrior that they wouldn't do more harm than good by cutting it up in glass. As he did so, Sword and Blade arrived at the scene.

"Sir Meta Knight. Kirby." Blade greeted them, Sword nodding behind him.

"Is that...a ship like Kirby's?" Sword questioned.

"Indeed, it is." Meta Knight replied. "And it looks like there is a Star Warrior inside."

His yellow eyes rested on the two men.

"We need your help getting this Star Warrior out. We don't even know if they are alive or not... but if not, they at least deserve a proper burial."

"Agreed, sir." Blade replied with a nod, walking over to and hopping up on the ship's hood next to Meta Knight.

The three began to slowly, gently extricate the downed Star Warrior from the wreckage, Sword prying one half of the damaged window as far back as possible while the other two reached into the ship and pulled the limp body out. Once removed, Blade and Meta Knight turned the body around and, together with Kirby, lifted it from the ship and onto the nearby grass.

Fumu and Bun ran into them as they were in the middle of lifting the creature and said nothing, eyes wide and mouth open.

"Kirby's ship?!" Fumu asked, after a few stunned seconds.

"No, but one just like it." Sword replied.

As the limp body laid on the grass, everyone gathered around it.

"Careful, guys" Blade said, holding his gloved hand up. "Who knows what internal injuries this warrior has. One wrong move and we could make it worse!"

Meta Knight examined the creature, able to get a full view of it now. There was now no doubt that it was both a Star Warrior and a member of his species. It was fully covered in armor that was pale gold in color with darker gold trim, the front of the armor similarly shaped to Sir Arthur's but with no plume. A narrow V-shaped opening for the eyes, similar to Meta Knight's own mask, concealed the face of the armor's owner, and on the top center of the helm was a dark gold three-pointed design like that of a kite shield. Two small white metal wings were affixed to each side of the creature's helm, similar to the wings seen on Cutter Kirby's hat. On the creature's back grew two large, white feathered wings, not unlike the wings of Galacta Knight. Fumu rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she looked over Meta Knight's shoulder; the shield, the wings...it reminded her of Valkyries.

The masked knight moved forward, resting his gloved hand on the wrist of the body.

"There's a pulse..." he stated after a few tense seconds. He rose and turned to face the group, cape wrapped around him.

"We should try to get this Star Warrior back to the castle and give them medical aid. They're alive."

"Of course, Sir. But what about King Dedede?" Fumu asked, putting a knuckle to her mouth anxiously. Every person present knew what the King's reaction would be to most non-native visitors, and the fact that this was a member of Kirby's species could make that reaction even worse.

"Sword and Blade's room" Meta Knight replied. The two warriors nodded in agreement. "Their quarters are the farthest possible from the King's room. We can't keep it a secret for long, but for at least a little while...worst case scenario, we can at least tend to their wounds before the king kicks them out."

"Good thinking", Fumu responded.

"Now for the next question...how are we going to get a heavily armored warrior all the way back to the castle from here?"

They all remained quiet for a few seconds before Bun snapped his fingers.

"If this warrior is like you and Kirby, then their body should be really light, right? Just take off all of the armor!"

The other knights all paused. They looked at each other awkwardly.

"Bun's right", Fumu chimed in. "I, uhh...I get that you guys don't like the idea of running around unarmored, but this could be a life or death matter here. It's going to have to go if we administer medical care anyway."

"She does have a point", Blade mused.

"Fine", Meta Knight said. "Remove their armor, and we'll just carry it separately with us. But be very, very careful. We don't know what the warrior's injuries are, and removing the armor might make them worse. It would be better if we could transfer them as is, but it seems like we have no choice..."

The three began to gather around the body and gently remove its gear. Kirby hopped in to help, but Fumu grabbed him before he could get close.

"We really appreciate your help, Kirby, but this requires a more delicate touch. Let's let these guys do it. They know their armor."

"Po-yo..." Kirby replied, entire body inflating slightly as he breathed deeply to let out an audible sigh.

The three knights began to gently remove the armor of their fellow Star Warrior, piece by piece. One gloved hand came off, then another, revealing pale blue arm-tips similar to those of Kirby and Meta Knight. With no small effort they removed the parts comprised of its helmet and breastplate.

As the piece comprised of the upper body and helmet was lifted off, the three crowded in to see the face of the warrior. The eyes were shaped very slightly different from himself and Kirby's and bore prominent eyelashes. Sword gasped, and Meta Knight's eyes flashed briefly.

"Huh. Female." Meta Knight mused, eyes again tinting a light green.

They continued their work, the most time and care being needed when they removed the back of her armor from around her white wings. In time the young female, looking nearly identical to Kirby or Meta Knight without his armor, lied on the grass in nothing but her sabatons.

"I'm glad to see that she is okay...no wounds. All of that armor must've protected her in the crash." Blade said. "Still...it doesn't seem right to just take it all off. Even if it's for a good cause."

"Yeah", Sword replied, "Especially since-"

"Focus, you two." Meta Knight interjected sternly. "That doesn't matter. None of that armor would do her any good if she died."

His own feelings, mostly consisting of growing embarrassment, were concealed both through his mask and his voice. It felt as wrong to him as it did the other two, particularly because they were all male, but they had a job to do and needed to focus on keeping her alive.

Meta Knight pointed to Blade.

"You. Carry her armor. You", he said, pointing to Sword "Carry her weapons."

Meta Knight squatted down over the body, tentatively gripping her by the arms before slowly lifting her body. "I'll take her since she can be brought to the castle more quickly by flight."

"Yes, Sir." Sword and Blade replied in unison.

Fumu and Bun watched, fascinated, as the knights began to move out. Sword and Blade carried the warrior's armor and weaponry, picking them up before heading towards the castle. Meta Knight carefully lifted the limp body in his arms, grunting with effort – though she was light, he was as well, and she still weighed as much as a fully-grown adult of his kind. He wondered briefly if he should just let Kirby carry her instead; but if Kirby were to, she could only be held above Kirby's body as he madly dashed through the countryside. Not only would that be an awfully bumpy ride for an injured body, but Kirby couldn't possibly fly her there because his method of flight required his own arms to flap and steer.

Meta Knight gripped the body as well as he could before taking off, needing a generous running start before he shakily hoisted both his body and her own into the sky. He didn't know which made him more uncomfortable; that he was trying to fly while carrying a creature who neared his own size and body weight, or that he was carrying an unarmored, unclothed female stranger. He cast such thoughts aside, reasoning that it could be worse; the group could have been instead spent their afternoon burying a corpse.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kirby, Fumu and Bun walked behind Sword and Blade. At first, Fumu thought she would be full of questions – but the more she thought about it, the more she didn't even realize what to ask. She mulled over her thoughts quietly, brow creased in concentration as the group walked. Bun, not wishing to keep his thoughts quiet as the other three were, instead went on about how cool watching the ship crashing was, and how weird it was to see another one of Kirby's species, and what was the point of such a big shield, and would that ship ever run again, and so on. Kirby was the only one willing to engage Bun in conversation, though his repeated responses of "Poyo" didn't exactly answer any of Bun's questions.

Meta Knight hauled the unconscious Star Warrior to the castle by air, using the breeze and growing thermals of the warm day to ease the burden of the body's weight on his wings. In time, he landed a short distance from the castle. He chose to land and carry the body on foot rather than swoop right in, in case he ran into Escargon or worse, King Dedede.

Meta Knight walked around the castle's entrance with the body slung over his shoulder, choosing instead to enter the rear entrance only used by the castle's Waddle Dee servants. As he entered it, he caught sight of a Waddle Dee doing the laundry; it looked up and began to wave its arms, rattling off in their strange indecipherable tongue. Meta Knight simply dipped his head to it politely before ripping a body-sized towel off from its stack of clothes, draping it over the unconscious Star Warrior to conceal her. He then carried the covered, spherical body to Sword and Blade's room, gently easing her down on a creaky spare bed which had sat unused in their room for some time.

In time Kirby, Fumu, Bun, and the two knights reached King Dedede's castle. They filed in one by one, each making a beeline to Sword and Blade's room. They all crowded in with Meta Knight, glancing at the unconscious stranger laid out on the bed. They noticed that someone, presumably Meta Knight, took the time to wrap the female in blankets up to her mouth.

"She's fine", Meta Knight said in a low voice, cape wrapped around him as he eyed the others.

"Give her time to rest", he instructed Sword and Blade. "When she is able to talk, find out why she landed here."

He spun on his heel and exited the room, still wrapped in his cloak. Without turning to face the others, he uttered one last thing;

"Something tells me she her landing here wasn't a coincidence."

The others filed out of their room after taking the time to look at her, one by one. Kirby left last, having to be ushered out by Sword after he stood quietly at the fallen warrior's bedside. He kept looking at her face; the fact that there was a face laying there that looked almost exactly like his own, that it wasn't a different face like Fumu or Bun or Dedede or the Cappies, just blew his mind. He wanted to wake her and ask her things, but he knew that wouldn't be right. In time, aided by Sword Knight's gentle urging, Kirby reluctantly left the room.

Hours passed, and day turned to night. Sword and Blade kept vigil at the sleeping warrior's bedside, checking to make sure she was still alive from time to time. As dinnertime approached, Sword and Blade both continued to sit in their room but did so with growing concern.

"We have to go eat in the kitchens..." Blade began, voicing the opinion both knights had. "The King doesn't like us trekking food off to our own rooms."

"We can't leave the Star Warrior, though" Sword replied. "What if her condition worsens in the time it takes for us to eat dinner? It's too risky."

"What can we do, then? Starve?" Blade shot back. "If we don't go eat, we'll waste away until we're the ones who need medical care. If we bring food back, we'll anger King Dedede and might even give him a reason to follow us up to our room. There's no winning this. We'll just have to squirrel away food that doesn't need preparation in a kitchen for future use, such as cereal. But for now..."

Blade glanced at the creature in bed. "We have to go eat. Quickly. Let's just go into the kitchen and shove whatever we can into our mouths."

"Why don't we leave one at a time?" Sword asked. "If we have to, that is..."

Blade shook his head in response. "We can't act abnormal. We always eat together. If anyone else is down there, they'll ask what's wrong. If you stayed behind and someone asked me what was going on, I'd have to say you were sick or something. Then they might come by to check on you. It's better if we just go, eat quickly, and come back as if nothing was out of the ordinary."

Sword hesitated, before his stomach growled so loudly that Blade took notice and snorted back a laugh. Sword felt his concealed face redden.

"Fine." Sword relented. "Let's do this...fast."

The two knights left their room together, Blade leaving first. Sword paused as he left, taking one last look at the sleeping warrior before closing the door behind him.

Sword and Blade walked back up to their room approximately 10 minutes later, walking in as quick of a pace they could manage without breaking into a run. Sword tilted his head downwards slightly, hand on his stomach.

"I think we set a record" Blade said cheerfully, elbowing his friend.

"I think I have heartburn" Sword replied flatly.

The two reached their room and looked around, each head turned in the opposite direction to examine both sides of the hallway at once. The hallway outside of their door was silent in both directions. They then looked to each other, nodded, and walked into the room with Blade Knight entering first.

"Halt!" an unfamiliar voice commanded, a long spear lowered to aim at Blade's throat. Blade gulped and inched back slightly, hand dropping towards his weapon.

"Don't you dare" the voice said.

The two knights stood in surprise at the sight. Their fallen warrior, who was left unarmored and sleeping peacefully in their spare bed, had apparently regained consciousness and suited back up while they were gone. She was apparently well enough to utilize her weaponry, as evidenced by how quickly she pointed her spear at them.

Blade reacted quickly. He quickly withdrew his own sword and held it against the spear, grunting with effort as he used his strength to steer the dangerous pointed end of the spear away from his neck.

"Get help!" Blade shouted to Sword, who nodded and dashed off in the direction of Meta Knight's room.

"Please, soldier, stand down." Blade pleaded. "I am not your enemy."

The armored Star Warrior remained unconvinced, pushing the spear back against his sword in an attempt to level it at his throat again."How can I trust you? Who are you? Where am I? And WHY was I unarmored?!"

"No, miss, I'm deeply sorry but we had no choice!" Blade replied frantically, the two locked by each others' weapons.

The door to Sword and Blade's room suddenly flew open, surprising them both. A stout blue knight stood with Galaxia unsheathed and ready, the sword glowing like candlelight in the dim room and reflecting off of his mask and armor.

A deep voice roared "At EASE, soldier."

"S..Sir Meta Knight?!" the female gasped, her one good wing flaring in surprise. She quickly slackened her grip on her spear and shield, letting both fall to the floor. She then got on one "knee", dipping her head respectfully to him.

"Sir Meta Knight. You were known throughout the Galaxy Soldier Army and beyond for your exploits...it is an honor to stand before you" she stated. She then lifted her head, turning to look at Blade. "My deepest apologies. I see now that you were telling the truth, um..."

"Blade Knight. Just call me Blade" Blade replied, sheathing his own sword in response. "It's okay, no worries. I can't blame you for being upset. You did just go through a lot, after all."

Her blue eyes rested on Sir Meta Knight's masked, emotionless visage before traveling down to look at the golden, fiery blade wielded by him.

"The sacred sword Galaxia...no!" she said, cursing and covering her hands with her head.

Meta Knight eyed his own sword curiously, everyone a bit confused by her reaction. Thinking she exclaimed out of fear, he quickly sheathed the sword and wrapped the scabbard as well as his body in his cape.

"This sword would not be used against you unless you chose to attack us", he replied in a voice calm and measured to diffuse the situation. "We know that you are a fellow Star Warrior."

"Thank you, Sir, and now that I know you are allies I would never raise my weapons against you. I... apologize for my outburst. The sacred sword Galaxia is indeed a fine weapon, a blade of incredible craftsmanship. But it could be why I landed here, and if it is than my readings were wrong."

"What readings? Why are you here, in Dreamland of all places?" Meta Knight asked, eyes narrowing to yellow slits.

The female took a deep breath through her armor, wobbling slightly on her feet. Sword noticed and gestured towards the bed.

"Please be careful. Your ship crash landed earlier today...you might not want to over exert yourself. You're welcome to use this bed."

The female nodded. "Thank you. I am Shieldmaiden, by the way."

"A Shieldmaiden! Fancy that." Meta Knight said, eyes tinting green. He bowed lightly towards her, before adding "Pleasure to meet you."

Blade nodded in agreement, before Sword tilted his head slightly. "A Shieldmaiden?"

Blade turned to Sword. "Shieldmaidens were a branch of winged, all-female Star Warriors. They were known for having two distinct groups of warriors who either practiced mastery of the shield or lightning magic. The shield wielding ones were used in the Galaxy Soldier Army's front lines, while the lightning wielders hung in back with other ranged attackers. They were never very numerous, though."

Shieldmaiden nodded. "Indeed; my sisters are no longer with me. But back on topic" she continued, quickly changing the subject. "I was brought here by my ship in search of a relic powerful enough to stop a great enemy. The power readings on my ship apparently chose Galaxia, which must be why I landed here, in this exact spot of Popstar. However, Galaxia is not enough to defeat this thing."

Meta Knight's eyes began to shift in color. "What thing?"

Shieldmaiden held her gloved hands, wings drooping. "An ancient, malevolent force known as Dark Matter."

The three men gasped, exchanging nervous glances.

Sword turned to look back at Shieldmaiden first."I've heard of Dark Matter... thought it was just a scary story. You mean to tell me it's real?"

Shieldmaiden nodded. "How I wish it was just a story. Dark Matter is real, and it has recently come back after disappearing for eons. Rumor has it that during the war against Nightmare, the chaos his army caused brought the sleeping Dark Matter back to life."

"Not much is known about Dark Matter at all besides that it is incredibly dangerous. It can consume entire planets in record time, possessing all sentient inhabitants and forcing them to do its bidding. It will eat the souls of those it possesses from the inside out until there is nothing left but a lifeless husk. It then moves on. No one knows if it is a single entity, or an entire species of creatures. No one knows if its motivations are consuming for survival or for the sake of causing destruction. All we know is that for the sake of the galaxy, it has to be stopped."

"To make things worse," Shieldmaiden continued, "Dark Matter is ethereal and cannot be harmed by a mere weapon; swords, lances, clubs – they all pass through its form as if one were attacking a ghost. The best thing one can accomplish when attacking it is knocking it out of it's host body, if the host becomes too badly injured for Dark Matter to utilize it. Legends say that the only thing that can stop Dark Matter itself is powerful, divine magic. It is what I was trying to find when I set out to look for a powerful holy relic. That's why I got so upset upon seeing Galaxia...for all of its power, it can't stop Dark Matter either."

The other knights mused quietly in response. Meta Knight glanced at his two comrades before his gaze settled on Shieldmaiden again, an unblinking glare.

"Is this thing heading for Popstar?" he asked.

Shieldmaiden nodded. "Though I don't know where it is exactly, or what its doing, when I set course for your planet Dark Matter was very close by. It could attack tomorrow, or not for a thousand years. Still, for the sake of Dreamland and beyond, we should find a way to destroy it."

Meta Knight gave a terse nod, Sword and Blade nodding in unison. "We will have to formulate a plan. Thank you for letting us know about Dark Matter, Shieldmaiden. You are welcome here as long as you wish."

He turned to Sword and Blade. "Assist Shieldmaiden in rest and recovery. Afterwards, we will all have to redouble our training efforts. Tomorrow we should consult with Fumu regarding this 'Dark Matter' threat. She is quite well educated; perhaps she would know if this planet has anything else that could assist us in our fight against it. We need to take this warning and treat it as if the threat will arrive tomorrow; we were awarded a rare blessing in knowing about our enemy's intentions so far in advance."

"Yes, Sir" the two men replied, saluting their leader.

Meta Knight then dipped his head to them, before turning to face Shieldmaiden and bowing.

"I must take my leave. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sir" she responded, watching him turn and leave.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Fumu sat by the window of the coffee shop, looking out the window from time to time. She sat on one side of the booth, Bun sitting on the other. Fumu sipped her orange juice, picking at the coffee cake in front of her with a fork. She hadn't eaten yet and knew she should be hungry, and she loved coffee cake; but she just couldn't bring herself to eat it. There was too much on her mind.

"Poyo poi?"

A little pink arm began to creep across the table towards her coffee cake. Fumu put her hand out to gently grab it, pushing it away.

"Yes, Kirby, I AM going to eat that. Don't worry. Your meal is coming out soon."

"Poyo" Kirby responded before leaning forward on the table, face propped up with his arms while he stared at the coffee cake silently like a begging dog.

Kirby's gaze eventually drifted towards the window, watching the Cappies walk by. His attention was caught by a blue, caped form that looked nothing like a Cappy. The caped warrior walked across the window before pushing the little store's door aside, a tiny bell ringing on top of the door to signify that another guest had entered.

"Poyoyii!" Kirby cried, waving to him from their booth.

Fumu smiled as Meta Knight made their way towards the three. He sat down next to Bun, facing Fumu and Kirby. A Cappy waitress walked out shortly, using both hands to carry Kirby's order. It was a plate overflowing with cakes, doughnuts, buns, scones - nearly the coffee shop's entire stock of baked goods. She placed the pile of pastries in front of the pink creature before turning to the others, seeing if they wanted anything.

"Coffee", Meta Knight stated, raising his arm. "Black, please."

"Black?!" Bun scrunched up his face. "Eeeew. The only way coffee is even drinkable is if it has lots of sugar in it. Milk, too!"

"Bun likes his sugary milk with a side of coffee" Fumu joked. She turned to face the knight as the waitress walked off, her green eyes meeting his yellow ones curiously.

"Sir, I believe you wanted to discuss what we witnessed yesterday..."

Meta Knight nodded slowly, before proceeding to tell her about everything Shieldmaiden relayed to him. He watched Fumu's cheery face fall as he explained the new threat on the horizon, Dark Matter, and how a holy relic of great power was needed to stop it.

Meta Knight paused to sip his coffee, dipping the small cup underneath his mask to sip the hot beverage as Fumu's brow furrowed in deep thought.

"So from what I can gather", she began, "You need me to gather as much information of all of Popstar's holy relics as I can in the hope that we can find something powerful enough to combat Dark Matter?"

"Yes", the Star Warrior replied, gently setting his cup back on the table. "It's a long shot, but Popstar does have its share of powerful relics. They may be far beyond Pupu village. They may be on the other side of the planet. But they're out there."

"How do you know that? If you don't mind me asking.", Fumu added, her growing frustration causing her to twist her fork into her coffee cake.

Meta Knight's expression remained unchanged to her; she couldn't see his hidden smile.

"Shieldmaiden's ship may be totaled, but the machine that tracks relics powerful enough to stop Dark Matter survived. It is still operational. The problem is, it lit up in multiple areas of Popstar. It's a flat radar sensor, and we have no way to sift through what is the best relic for the job or which items are powerful but not enough like Galaxia. We need to know which one is the most useful."

"And the only way to know that" Meta Knight continued, after another brief sip of his coffee, "is books."

Fumu couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't know whether to be honored or terrified that so much of the mission to thwart Dark Matter rested on her shoulders.

"Sir Meta Knight", Fumu stammered, "I'm flattered that you think I'd know enough about the world's relics to have an idea of what could best help us. Honestly, though, I don't. The topic interests me, and I have read about it in the past, but this is going way deeper into the subject than anything I've read. There has to be some way..."

Fumu narrowed her eyes and stared at the table in front of her intensely, focusing on nothing, before her eyes popped open wide. She put both hands on the table and pushed forward so suddenly it caused the knight to flinch, Fumu nearly knocking over her plate in the process.

"Of course!" she cried. "Curio!"

The four finished their breakfast quickly in their haste to leave. Kirby, after being told to hurry up, finished his in record time as he literally inhaled his food. Fumu put on an embarrassed smile as she paid the annoyed waitress an extra generous tip after Kirby ate the plates of everyone else at the table, the silverware, and the tablecloth.

Fumu, Bun, and the two Star Warriors then exited the little coffee shop and quickly headed down the streets of Pupu Village, heading towards Curio. In time, they reached the small antique shop that doubled as a museum.

As the four reached the store Meta Knight, who had been leading the group, held the door open and stepped aside to allow Fumu to enter first. She pushed the creaky door open to his shop, the strange and slightly musty smell of old antiques flooding her nostrils as she entered. Bun, Kirby, and Meta Knight walked in behind her afterwards.

Curio practically leapt out of his chair to greet them, so happy was he to have visitors in his quiet and rarely busy store.

"Hello Fumu, Bun! Greetings, Sir Meta Knight and Kirby! Welcome, welcome", the old Cappy said with a broad smile. "Do let me know if there is anything I can help you with."

"Actually, Mr. Curio, there is..." Fumu replied, rubbing her chin.

Curio raised a hairy eyebrow in response. "What can I do for you, Fumu?"

Fumu looked around at the antique store and museum, filled to the brim with old nick-knacks. Everything from outdated tools from the past several centuries of Cappy civilization to ancient, valuable artifacts, a few protected in cubed glass cases, sat on display. Fumu loved it here; she memorized every "exhibit" by heart, made an effort to learn all about any new goods or relics that Curio had procured, and spent an extended amount of time reading his old history books. But today, she couldn't simply enjoy uncovering the mysteries of the past for the sake of learning; she had a job to do.

Fumu cleared her throat. "Mr. Curio, do you happen to have any books about relics that are exceptionally powerful or magic in nature?"

Curio stroked his moustache thoughtfully "Oh, um, well, let's see...ah! As a matter of fact, I do!"

Curio turned his back to the group and walked towards the back of his store, reaching behind a stack of unorganized antiques to grab a creaky ladder. He moved it over to a section of shelves nearby, climbing up the wobbly ladder with no small amount of effort. Meta Knight, sensing an accident in the making, rushed over to hold the ladder steady while Kirby, following the older warrior's lead, followed him and held the other end.

"Oh thank you...you didn't have to do that." Curio said from above, before his body was wracked with hacking coughs. Having leaned far into the back of the store's shelves to move books kicked up a terrific cloud of dust, which cascaded down from Curio's perch on top of the ladder and fell on the two Star Warriors.

Kirby scrunched up his face and coughed lightly, managing to avoid the worst of it. Meta Knight, however, caught enough of the dust cloud that it seeped into his mask through the opening for his eyes. He shut his eyes briefly before feeling a tingle in his nose holes. He held it in, quaking slightly, before sneezing so hard his mask got knocked off center. The ladder shook slightly, Kirby using both hands to steady it as well as he could while Curio leaned back and forth dangerously.

"...Sorry." Meta Knight said sheepishly, sniffling slightly and using one free hand to readjust his mask back into place.

"Quite alright, old boy. Happens to me all the time!" Curio replied with a chuckle from on top of the ladder, reaching as far towards the back of the shelf as he could.

In time Curio descended, carrying a large and heavy book. Fumu gripped the dusty old tome at the bottom of the ladder and prepared to thank him before the old man ascended again, coming back down the ladder with book after book. By the time he was done both Fumu and Bun were quaking from the weight of thick books, carrying a dozen total between the two of them.

"Wow, Curio..." Fumu managed to say. "Thank you! We just need to do some research for something specific - we'll return them as soon as possible."

Curio flashed them a grin as he dusted off his sleeves. "Anytime. All I ask is that they don't get too beaten up so that future generations may gain knowledge from these books as well."

Fumu smiled warmly. "You know how I treat your things, Curio. Trust me, they won't get damaged."

The four left the shop, with Kirby and Meta Knight lightening the children's burden by carrying several books each themselves.

"Sir..." Fumu said, turning to Meta Knight. Meta Knight looked at her out of the corner of his eye silently in response.

"These are going to take a while to go through. I had no idea there was so much written on the subject of ancient relics. This could take days, even weeks."

Meta Knight nodded, grunting slightly as he shifted the weight of the books he carried from one arm to another.

"I understand that. Sword, Blade and I can help you go through these. I'm sure our new friend would be willing to lend her assistance, as well. With any luck, we should have time to conduct enough research to make an informed decision on how to protect the kingdom before...before anything bad happens."

"I can help too, sis!" Bun piped up, his face invisible behind the large stack of books he carried. "I may not read as fast as you, but I can still read!"

Fumu nodded, smiling. "Thanks, guys. We will get through this much faster with multiple people working on this."

"Poyo! Poy!" Kirby interjected, looking at Fumu.

"Ahh...thanks Kirby, but just leave this one to us." Fumu replied kindly. She knew that Kirby wanted to help, but he couldn't even read yet.

The four walked back towards Dedede's castle, the warm sunny day making their laborious book-carrying feel like less of a burden.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The next few days, everyone tended to their duties in the name of preparing for Dark Matter. Fumu threw herself into the books she obtained from Curio, studying every single tome word by word, page by page. Though the others were helping her by reading some of the books, she had been given the lion's share of the reading - after all, she was the fastest reader and was the most familiar with the topic of Popstar's archaeology.

The three knights and Shieldmaiden did not remain idle either, studying their own share of the books in an attempt to obtain any information possible. They narrowed their search somewhat by matching Shieldmaiden's power tracker with the supposed location of the relics; just by cross referencing in that manner, they were able to narrow down their search by quite a bit until leaving behind a few promising candidates.

Studying was not the only thing the Star Warriors did. In between breaks from reading, they redoubled their training efforts. The castle courtyard rang with the clash of steel on steel as the three knights traded sword blows, trying to shake off the inherit rustiness that had set in from several years of peace in Dreamland. Though Sword, Blade, and Meta Knight trained often, Shieldmaiden could not attend their sessions; her presence in Dedede's castle was still unknown, and it was decided between all of them to keep the hot-headed and impulsive King from knowing as much as possible.

King Dedede remained oblivious, going about his day while tended to by his Waddle Dee servants and Escargon. However, as time wore on he began to grow suspicious. Though not the most perceptive citizen of Dreamland, he was very familiar with the daily goings-on in his castle and recognized that something had recently changed. The three knights were acting shifty, either training noisily enough in the courtyard to disturb his morning sunbathing sessions or hiding away for hours in their rooms without so much as a peep.

"Something's going on, I just know it!" King Dedede muttered to himself, sprawled out on a lounging chair. The king was trying to relax on his castle balcony, but was becoming increasingly bothered by the faint clashing of steel echoing upwards from the courtyard below them.

Escargon, who was dutifully rubbing his yellow feet, paused to look up at his rotund king.

"What could it possibly be, Your Majesty? Nightmare has fallen, and there hasn't been a single sign of trouble around for ages. It's actually been kind of dull."

King Dedede kicked Escargon with his right foot. "Did I say you could stop rubbing?"

Escargon blanched before focusing on the King's feet again, fearing the wrath of Dedede - or more accurately, his hammer. "No you didn't, your Highness. I'm rubbing, I'm rubbing!"

King Dedede snorted, gloved hand nervously drumming on the armrest of his lounge chair. Not a few seconds later, he sprang up quickly enough to knock Escargon off balance.

"I can't STAND it!" The King declared. "I KNOW they're up to something. Escargon!"

Escargon teetered slightly before falling forward, catching his own fall with his arms.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" The snail questioned wearily.

King Dedede folded his arms, looking down at Escargon with a scowl.

"I want a full search performed of Sword, Blade, and Meta Knight's rooms. Sneak behind them and try to listen in, see if they say anything fishy. I am allowing them the most generous privilege of living within the walls of my castle, so their privacy is forfeit. After all, those are MY rooms."

"Y-Yes, Sir" Escargon responded.

Personally Escargon thought the King had gone nuts, and was perhaps imagining a reason to be upset because things had been quiet for so long he maybe wanted something to happen. However, he knew voicing his opinion on the matter could turn Dedede's anger on him instead. The last time that happened, King Dedede played a game of croquet with Escargon's shell as the ball and his large hammer as the mallet. Escargon's shell was still sore behind that one.

The snail slinked off at Dedede's command. The pudgy King watched his servant go before turning towards the edge of the balcony. He walked over to its edge, peering downward. From the view of this balcony, he could witness everything that was going on in the courtyard. He saw the three knights as well as Kirby, paired off into two groups and mock fighting each other in repetitious training drills; Sword and Blade, and a short distance away Sword Kirby and Meta Knight.

King Dedede's eyes narrowed. "I'm onto you..."

Escargon looked through Sir Meta Knight's room first, careful not to disturb much as the moody knight was almost as scary as King Dedede. Aside from his delicious candy stash and a few spare masks, the snail found nothing of interest...until his eyes fell upon some books. He knew that the Star Warrior was an avid reader, but something compelled him to look through the pile and see if anything stood out.

"Fables, legends, science, space travel, ..."

His purple hand avoided the dusty pile of books on Popstar's relics that were stacked off to the side, digging deeper into the books closer to Meta Knight's bedside instead.

"Ship engineering, war stories..."

He picked up one particularly thin magazine and peered at its contents with narrowed eyes before fumbling to quickly replace it, face turning red as a fire engine.

"Um, yeah. That's it. Nothing to see here. Next!" Eyes bugged, the snail spun on one 'heel' to exit the room as quickly as possible.

Escargon next walked through the castle, using his flexible eyestalk to constantly look over his shoulder as he made his way to Sword and Blade's room. He arrived outside of the door and tugged on its hinge.

"Locked. Hah! Stupid." He sneered, fiddling through a large key ring for the set that unlocked their door. "I've never seen this door locked during daylight hours.", the snail muttered to himself. "Maybe King Dedede was right, after all..."

Escargon opened the door and peered inside.

"Blade, is that..." Shieldmaiden asked, her voice trailing off. Her eyes widened within her helm as she saw that the person who unlocked the door was most definitely not a Star Warrior.

Escargon stared at her, jaw dropped, eye twitching.

"Y-y-y-y-YOUR MAJESTYYYYYY!" The snail screamed, throwing his hands up in the air before running off.

Sword Kirby flew through the air, his blade pointed high. Meta Knight dodged the blow at the last second, turning quickly to face his opponent and counterattack. The two had been training for a while and, as they both tended to do, they became a bit less interested in mere training drills so much as they were focused on besting each other. Meta Knight noted King Dedede on the balcony above them, and could practically feel his glare bore into him even from the great distance between the two. When he saw the King suddenly turn with his hammer raised and run off into the castle with an unnatural speed for one so large, he slowed in his combat just enough for Sword Kirby to get a good blow to his mask.

"Oof..." Meta Knight said, staggering backwards and holding his head with a gloved hand. That blow made his earholes ring.

"Kirby, stop!" Meta Knight commanded, pointing upwards at the balcony. "King Dedede just ran inside with his hammer up."

"Poyo?" Kirby asked, lowering his sword slowly.

Meta Knight's cape lifted and rippled as if blown by an unseen wind before appearing to rip apart, two bat-like wings spreading out from the cape's fabric.

"Let's go."

The two Star Warriors hurried back inside the castle, Meta Knight by air and Kirby by foot. Sword and Blade watched the two's sudden movement and followed behind them, knowing that the two wouldn't break training and run like that unless something serious happened.

Meta Knight's throat ran dry; he felt his stomach drop. He had a bad feeling he knew what caused the King to react so strongly. He ran to Sword and Blade's room, the other three behind him, before skidding to a stop. In the doorway stood Shieldmaiden, shield raised defensively, as King Dedede stood before her with his hammer raised high.

Escargon's head popped up from behind the king's robe, starry-eyed and blushing slightly as he looked upwards at Dedede.

"Your Highness, you...you saved me..."

"Shut up!" King Dedede roared to his cowering servant before turning to face the group of Star Warriors, pointing his hammer threateningly at them.

"YOU. What the hell is this?!" King Dedede growled. "Who is this crazy Kirby-looking thing and why is an uninvited guest in MY castle?!"

"My deepest apologies, King Dedede" Meta Knight said with his gloved hands out in a palms up gesture. "We rescued this one from a doomed ship. She was injured, and we brought her here to recover."

King Dedede folded his arms and glared at the smaller creatures, unconvinced. "She was well enough to say hello to Escargon. Seems plenty healthy to me..."

Blade piped up, voice cracking from nerves. "We only wanted you to see her after she was completely healthy, in order to properly introduce...your new mercenary!"

"Yeah" Sword added, too quickly for the King to retort. "We brought her here because we knew that another powerful warrior could be useful in defending the castle."

The King glowered at the group, arms folded. Behind the King's robes, Escargon silently sneered at the knights and mouthed "bull."

"What do I need another warrior on our payroll for?" King Dedede asked with a snort. "Nightmare's been gone for years! Dreamland's crime record is at an all-time low, thanks in no small part to my incredibly prosperous leadership. There's no need for any more protection here."

Shieldmaiden shook her head. "But there is! Your Majesty, a great danger is soon going to threaten you and your kingd-"

Sword interrupted her frantically. "Yes, a great danger! Y- uh, your villagers are going to revolt!"

The King paused, beak opening slightly. He glared at Sword. "Say what?"

"Don't you remember the tax hike?" Blade chimed in, sensing Sword's angle and running with it. "We've seen it and felt it, but it's hitting those who don't make much cash pretty hard. Everyone in Pupu village is getting madder and madder, and soon they may get the courage to storm the castle and take their money back by force!"

Meta Knight looked up to the King, his mask giving the false impression of a completely straight face. "Why do you think we have been training, Sir? It is our goal to protect you, after all."

Of course, the Cappie's real reaction to the steep and admittedly unfair tax hike was to grumble over their morning paper, with several of the most "rebellious" holding signs outside of city hall politely asking for it be reverted. The Cappies were among the most apathetic group of people he'd ever seen. Still, Meta Knight knew King Dedede didn't know that. The spoiled King rarely set foot in Pupu village, let alone actually interacted with any residents, considering them mere commoners who were beneath him.

King Dedede gulped. He did remember hearing about the protests a short time ago, as Fumu had brought it up to him several times. He had no idea it had grown to the level of an angry mob, though. He remained silent as terrible visions flashed through his head; the Cappies bowling over his Waddle Dees and storming the castle's gates. Each town member standing in a long, snaking line to the door of his treasury while Escargon handed them their taxes back and then some, one by one. His treasury, one bursting at the seams, shrinking down as the wallets of undeserving peasants grew fat instead. Suddenly, the offer of another guard's services was quite tempting.

The King hid his fear behind a smirk, resting with one arm on his hammer. "Tell you what. I'm feeling generous today! I could always use more protection, being such a powerful and valuable target, so if you agree to follow my orders to a T you can stay here as one of my soldiers. Your duties would involve protecting me, my treasury, my possessions, my Waddle Dees, my castle, my garden, my food stores, my wardrobe...oh, and I guess Escargon if he's in trouble."

"Of course, your Majesty", Shieldmaiden nodded readily "And thank you. It would be an honor to serve you."

Meta Knight exhaled slowly, having held his breath for so long that he began to feel dizzy. Sword and Blade slumped slightly in their armor as well, visibly relieved. Kirby tilted his head from one side to another with the sword still in his hand, frowning; he had no idea what the fuss was about or why everyone was so tense, but if King Dedede raised his hammer at Shieldmaiden he'd have no choice but to act.

"Good. It's settled, then!" King Dedede said, letting out a hearty laugh.

Escargon frowned deeply from his place behind the King, glaring daggers at the Star Warriors. King Dedede turned and walked off, Escargon trailing behind him. The snail looked up at his King, hands on his hips. Despite the "threat" of the Cappies somewhat justifying the Knights' odd behavior, the snail felt like something else was wrong.

"Since when do Meta Knight and his goons care about the protecting the King's treasury?" Escargon thought to himself. "King Dedede was lucky if they even stepped in to protect his hide from Demon Beasts! They're all full of it...they don't give a Shotzo about anything in this castle but Parm's kids and their precious little Kirby. His Majesty was right to be alarmed..."

The snail stroked the his green cheek whiskers as the two walked down the hall.

"I'm keeping my eye on them."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Meta Knight sat at the table of Chef Kawasaki's restaurant. He very rarely ate out, particularly because Chef Kawasaki was the only lunch and dinner restaurant in the small village and his cooking was notoriously terrible, but he knew that their soup and salad menu was at least tolerable. Bland, but decent enough and cheap. Plus, soups and salads were generally pretty hard to mess up.

It was not long after he arrived that Shieldmaiden walked into the restaurant. Meta Knight smiled behind his mask upon seeing her walk in, and lifted a hand to quietly gesture her over to the table he had chosen. She walked over and sat down across from him, and the two exchanged greetings. A waitress collected their orders shortly afterward, with Meta Knight warning Shieldmaiden in advance to avoid virtually anything else on the menu if she could help it.

As the two exchanged small talk, mostly about the war, Meta Knight suddenly began to feel...strange. He felt happy, and was enjoying her company, but at the same he felt an odd, growing tension. He felt surprisingly self-conscious, more so than usual, as if he were standing in front of a crowd.

Meta Knight eyed his soup, stirring his spoon lightly. He could tell it was too hot to eat, and the last thing he wanted to do was make a fool of himself. Across from him sat Shieldmaiden, wings folded awkwardly behind her in a wooden booth that was obviously not designed for winged guests. The frontal part of her armor was lowered down to allow her to eat, revealing the lower part of her previously hidden face. Her bright blue eyes were still engulfed in darkness from the rim of her winged helmet.

"Has anyone had any luck on our search yet?" Shieldmaiden asked.

Meta Knight lifted his mask with one hand, spooning the still hot soup into his mouth with the other. His hand shook slightly, and without meaning to the usually dignified knight audibly slurped his spoonful. He laid the spoon down into the bowl, head tilted down to the point where his eyes weren't visible. Usually the stoic knight preferred to eat alone, as he preferred to conduct virtually any activity, but he didn't mind doing so in front of his friends. Why did it suddenly feel like a daunting task to eat a bowl of soup, of all things? He felt his cheeks redden, thankfully hidden behind his mask. Ridiculous.

"Fumu may have", Meta Knight managed to say after realizing that a few seconds passed after he was asked the question. "She's cross-referencing it now. It may be a relic to the south, in Popstar's jungle region. According to legend the relic was considered too much power for one person to wield, so it was split into two halves."

Shieldmaiden paused while her forkful of food was raised, gently letting it down. She raised a hidden eyebrow. "I do remember while in the ship, looking down at Popstar, that two bright points on my radar were lit up to the south... but there was no population surrounding it, which is why I instead chose to land in Dreamland. Whoever made that jungle relic is obviously long gone now."

"They are", Meta Knight replied. "Either way, Fumu is researching it right now and will let us know what she thinks shortly. Until then", he continued, stirring his soup spoon, "Sword, Blade and I are going to continue training. No matter where we end up going, there may be battle...and even if we can't harm Dark Matter itself, we can at least neutralize any threat its possessed minions may cause."

Shieldmaiden frowned slightly as she considered his words. "Good thinking, although the only known way to release a being from Dark Matter's grasp is to cause enough physical harm to them that Dark Matter leaves the host, possibly because the body has outlived its usefulness. It's sick...the possessed are always innocent...but there's no choice."

Meta Knight gave a brief nod in response, looking up from his soup at her. His piercing yellow eyes met hers briefly, unblinking, before he looked away. He couldn't figure out why, but for some reason he found even looking at her to feel a bit awkward. Even with his face concealed behind his mask, which naturally emboldened him, the Star Warrior felt shy.

Meta Knight looked back down at his soup, moving the spoon idly. "Do you wish to join us in training?"

Shieldmaiden nodded eagerly, smiling. "Yes, Sir, I would very much like to. I've wanted to for the past few days, but due to the situation with King Dedede I could barely leave the room, let alone the courtyard."

Meta Knight grimaced. "I apologize for that, but the King can be...rash."

Shieldmaiden averted her eyes, fork teasing a lettuce leaf from the salad on her plate. Though she understood why, being rendered both effectively powerless the day of the ship's crash and having to impose as a secret guest still stung her pride. Even if the King wasn't a nice person, it still seemed very rude of her to do.

"It was for the best." she said softly. "But still...I understand why you may have wanted to keep my presence a secret, but why conceal the threat of Dark Matter?"

The blue veteran shook his head slightly. "Even when trying to justify your staying at the castle we couldn't let him know what was going on with Dark Matter, or his "help" would have made things worse."

Meta Knight sipped his soup again, almost too daintily in an attempt to overcompensate from slurping before. He had no idea why he felt so awkward, but he knew it was best to ignore it.

Shieldmaiden popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. "What time do you and the others typically train?"

Meta Knight, who appeared to be staring deeply into his soup, looked up abruptly as if startled.

"Typically in the morning, after breakfast." He felt that strange feeling well up inside of him again as he processed his thoughts into words. It annoyed him. His mouth dry, he swallowed reflexively before continuing.

"Would you care to join us tomorrow?"

Shieldmaiden nodded eagerly, her smile broad. "It would be an honor to train with you all. Thank you", she continued, dipping her head in a seated bow.

They finished their meal with little more said, Meta Knight's muddled feelings urging him to eat quickly so that he could extricate himself from the entire situation. When they were both finished, they exited the restaurant. Meta Knight walked ahead of her to hold the door, chivalrous as always. She smiled and thanked him, exiting first.

Shieldmaiden stretched and fluffed her wings. She turned her body to look at Meta Knight out of the corner of her eye, who still stood outside of the restaurant with his cape wrapped around him. He looked at her for a split second before averting his eyes, as if there was something fascinating to his left.

"I think I'm going to try to fly back to the castle", Shieldmaiden said. She turned to him fully and waved. "See you tomorrow!"

"Farewell", Meta Knight replied, a gloved hand emerging from the depths of his cape to wave back at her.

Shieldmaiden took off, broad white wings spread and flapping enough to cause a breeze as the Star Warrior lifted herself into the air. Meta Knight watched her go, her round form soaring into the sky until she was nothing but a faint silhouette against the afternoon sun. He then closed his eyes, turning around while still wrapped within his cape. A gloved hand slipped under his mask, rubbing his curiously hot cheeks. The hand traveled higher to squeeze between his eyes, where the bridge of the nose would be on other species.

Meta Knight's unusual feelings still nagged him. His stomach felt odd and floaty.

He blamed it on the soup.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sword stood outside in the castle courtyard. A morning fog lingered over the grass, the sun having barely arisen. The cool, damp air helped awaken him. He took a deep breath, lungs expanding, before exhaling audibly through his helmet. He rolled his right shoulder before glancing off into the distance. In the morning fog, barely visible, a familiar green-hued silhouette faced him.

Blade faced Sword in the early light, eyes straining to make out his figure against the fog. The fog was a hindrance, but in terms of training Blade reasoned it was actually a good thing - they almost always trained during sunny days, as that's how Dreamland's borderline tropical weather was, and if the day's weather held any rain it usually came in late afternoon after their training was over. The fog would force them to act differently.

Sword raised his hand and waved it, before sharply bringing it down at his side. That was the signal that he was ready to begin. Blade stood upright, squared his shoulders, and repeated the gesture to his comrade. He then withdrew his weapon slowly from its sheath, the metal glinting in the morning sun, and held it against his side. He crouched, bracing himself.

Sword dipped his head in a visible nod. He then disappeared.

Blade looked around wildly, squinting as he peered into the morning mist. Sword was always good at sneaky entrances into their battles, and the fog only made him even better at it. He knew that his friend was coming to get him, and that they were to engage in a mock battle. They both had to be very careful, and neither took their drills lightly - they used real weapons, rather than wooden or blunted blades, because Meta Knight believed that using weapons that acted and weighed differently would not prepare a soldier for how their weapon would behave in a real battle. This meant that even with the best intentions, their training was still very dangerous.

Blade heard the light "ssh" of grass, wet from morning dew, crushing under feet. He quickly turned and hopped out of the way, just as Sword charged in from behind him. Blade turned and answered with a counterattack of his own, turning the flat of his blade to hit Sword in the back.

Sword got clipped, but turned around and brought the flat of his blade up towards his opponent. Blade brought up his arm at an angle to have Sword's weapon hit his spaulder, the two pieces of metal meeting with an echoing clang.

Meta Knight watched the two warriors fight from a short distance away, eyes glowing blue. He was proud of their progress. Under his guidance, Sword and Blade had come a long way from when he first met them. He would soon be testing his own mettle against an opponent; but unlike on past days, it would not be Kirby this time. He stood quietly with his gaze drifting upwards, the morning fog clouds gently undulating around the bottom of his cape.

From the gates of Dedede's castle, a winged shape obscured by the morning fog flew towards the three. Shieldmaiden arrived and folded her white wings, landing a distance away from the fighting warriors.

"Good morning, Sir Meta Knight" Shieldmaiden stated with a respectful bow. She walked over until she was standing next to him, holding her spear and shield as she watched Sword and Blade.

"Training with real weapons." She muttered, chuckling lightly. "Just like the old masters back in the war. I thought so."

She turned to Meta Knight, eyeing him curiously.

"Shall we?"

Meta Knight gave a single nod in response, throwing his cape aside. He reached for Galaxia, the golden blade glinting radiantly in the morning light. He wanted to test her skill; he could tell that she was younger and probably less experienced than he was, and he wanted to see what she could do before proceeding with a regimen. He did his best to keep himself distant, cold, even more than usual. His stomach began to feel a bit light and fluttery again, the feeling rolling over him like the fog the two stood in, and this time he couldn't blame it on Kawasaki's cooking.

"I understand that you utilize both your spear and shield." Meta Knight spoke softly. "Let's see your offensive skills first."

"Yes, Sir" Shieldmaiden responded, taking wing to land a few feet away in preparation for their battle.

Shieldmaiden felt anxiety beginning to well within her, her chest tightening and her body language fidgety as she stood before him; she was about to be tested by a great Star Warrior, a veteran. She knew her skills wouldn't come close to his. Her hidden face burned at the thought of looking like a newly minted soldier in front of him, flailing her weapons around clumsily as he calmly dominated her. However, she knew to swallow her pride. The best way for a warrior to learn, besides in battle itself, was to gain experience from the teachings of others.

Meta Knight bowed to her before walking a short distance away, his sword out and cape flowing behind him. He then stopped, turned, and nodded to her. He raised his free arm in the air in the same way Sword and Blade did before bringing it down.

"Prepare yourself!" Meta Knight called out into the fog.

Shieldmaiden nodded and mimicked his hand gesture, flaring her wings and adopting a battle-ready pose. She crouched low first, tense. Neither so much as twitched for a few seconds; in the dim foggy light, she could see little besides a cloaked silhouette with two bright yellow pinpoints. The female Star Warrior then charged, shield out, rushing forward in an attempt to bash him. Meta Knight saw the telegraphed move and turned, jumping out of the way as she rushed forward. Shieldmaiden paused and turned, holding up her shield just as Meta Knight delivered a blow from Galaxia. The clang of metal on metal rang loudly through the misty courtyard, the sound loud enough to scare the birds out of nearby trees.

Shieldmaiden then thrust forward with a shield bash, forcing Meta Knight to hold his sword horizontally to somewhat deflect the blow. He stumbled back before hopping out of the way, turning to attack her from a different angle.

Shieldmaiden watched Meta Knight move, never taking her eyes off of the veteran for a second. She turned and deflected another blow from him successfully. She then held her spear high, preparing to go on the offensive. Her piercing jabs were dodged by Meta Knight, one after the other. Meta Knight smirked beneath the mask, sensing an opportunity as Shieldmaiden let her defense down. He had fought multiple spear-wielding warriors before; he knew that the range of the spear was its strength, and that if he could get past it his sword would then have the upper hand. He dodged several blows before one glanced off of his mask. Shieldmaiden hesitated for a second as her spear bounced uselessly off of the sturdy metal disc. Meta Knight's eyes flashed, sensing the time to strike, and he quickly weaved into closer melee range past the point of Shieldmaiden's spear. Shieldmaiden held up her shield in response, but she could do nothing but defend without retaliating in return as Meta Knight was close enough to attack past the point of her long spear. It was over. Meta Knight delivered blow after blow onto her shield and armor, careful to hit her with nowhere near his full strength, until she wilted under the assault.

"Enough", Meta Knight said, his deep voice echoing through the courtyard. He sheathed Galaxia and held out his gloved hand, eyes glowing blue.

"Not bad."

Shieldmaiden took his hand and stood up, weaving slightly. Her armor was visibly dented, her wing feathers ruffled and out of place, and her eyes were visibly dimmer than before. She managed a shaky salute in response.

"Thank you, Sir."

Meta Knight wrapped himself up in his cape. Despite their training session, he looked as fresh as he did before the battle.

"If I may", he began, "Your shield defense is excellent. Your offense, however..." He paused for a moment to consider his words, not wanting to sound too harsh. "I was able to bypass your spear. In the battlefield, that would give a swordsman every single advantage over you. You'd be in big trouble."

Shieldmaiden dipped her head, humbled. She knew she didn't have a chance against someone so much more experienced.

"I noticed that as well, Sir", Shieldmaiden replied, her professionally neutral tone hiding her disappointment. She had never had someone slip through her guard so effortlessly, and it shook her – had Meta Knight been a real enemy, he could have killed her.

"Is there anything I could have done better?"

"Hmm..." Meta Knight pondered aloud. " I believe if your spear were held differently, a swordsman would have a harder time passing through. You can not effectively be defensive with your shield while going on the offense at the same time; your spear should double as your defense while attacking, keeping shorter-ranged melee at bay. Your weapon of choice's biggest asset, by far, is its range."

Meta Knight's eyes tinted green. "Let me see how you hold your spear."

Shieldmaiden, weary but doing her best not to make it obvious, sank into a pose with her spear held out as if she were preparing for an attack.

"Now jab." Meta Knight continued.

Shieldmaiden did as she was told, jabbing forward with the spear as if attacking an invisible target.

"Thrust", he commanded.

Shieldmaiden thrust her spear. Meta Knight noted the angle, eyes glowing green as he analyzed her motions.

"I see..." Meta Knight said. He held his gloved hand open, palm up.

"May I take your spear?"

"Certainly", Shieldmaiden replied as she handed it to him.

Meta Knight then held it in a near-perfect pose. He, like most Star Warriors, had been given brief training drills with a variety of weapons before even being given the choice of choosing one. Back then he loathed every minute of mace, spear, and axe training and longed to return to the sword. Now, however, he was grateful for it – not only did it allow him to train others, but it also allowed him to think about the strengths and weaknesses of his opponent's weapons while facing them in battle. Having demonstrated the proper technique, he handed the spear back to Shieldmaiden.

"Now you try", he said in an encouraging tone.

Shieldmaiden held it in her best imitation of his pose as possible, but Meta Knight could see that it was still a bit off.

"Ah...it's more like this", he said patiently, walking close to her.

Meta Knight stood behind her, hand clasping over hers, as he gently maneuvered her pose into a corrected position. His masked body bumped against hers, the two pressed together, and he was then suddenly aware of how close they were to each other. His gloved hands began to sweat, his heart feeling like it paused for a beat before it began to hammer. His mannerisms went from the fluid movement of an experienced battle trainer to awkward, jerky. The several seconds he held the pose felt as if they stretched on for longer.

Meta Knight quickly jumped back as if stung by a bee, his cape wrapped as tightly around him as he could. Underneath the folds of his cape and the disc-shaped mask, his blue face had gone red from a sudden blush.

"Much better", he managed to say as Shieldmaiden kept the position he showed her and jabbed her spear at the air with precision.

Shieldmaiden had noticed how odd that brief moment was. She turned to look him in the eye, her face completely expressionless underneath her armor. They locked eyes for several seconds before Meta Knight looked away, casting his gaze downwards.

"I believe this concludes our training session", he said quietly.

"Indeed", Shieldmaiden agreed, bowing deeply to him. "Thank you for the practice session, as well as for perfecting my technique."

Meta Knight nodded in response. "You're welcome."

Shieldmaiden spread her wings and flicked their tips before turning, looking at her comrade and tutor out of the corner of her eye as she prepared to take off.

"Tomorrow then, Sir?"

Meta Knight nearly choked, just thinking about having to deal with such emotions again. His expression, concealed behind his mask, remained blank as he gave her a brief nod.

"Tomorrow."

Meta Knight watched her leave, the detached facade cast by his expressionless armor hiding his turbulent mixture of emotion. He felt very much annoyed with himself, feeling thoroughly unprofessional, yet he couldn't help but ruminate on what just took place. Wordlessly he walked past Sword and Blade, who had since concluded their own battle, and headed back towards the castle with his cape wrapped around him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 **

The clouds which hung densely over Dreamland slowly began to lift as the day progressed, the fog evaporating under the growing heat of the sun. As time wore on it, turned into a beautiful day. The temperature was perfect, clouds being gently blown across the sky by a light breeze stirring the air.

The Cappies were out and about in Pupu village, shopping, playing, walking, and enjoying the beautiful weather. The village's town square in particular was especially crowded, as a small art fair had set up with booths featuring unusual art and sculptures from traveling artists.

Chief Borun walked quietly through the fair, marveling at the various creative works on display. He was there as a part of his job, to make sure that no one tried to make off with any of the unique and expensive art pieces on display, but the town's crime rate was so low that it might as well have been a day off. Borun whistled happily as he walked by before a particular stall caught his eye. He leaned into the booth, peering closely at one of the more unique metal sculptures on display. He'd never seen a Bronto Burt made entirely out of spoons before.

As he admired the sculpture, he noticed the sunny glint that reflected on the silver spoons gradually fade out. The sky appeared to darken slightly, the sun no longer beating down on him or the other townsfolk. At first, Borun welcomed the shade. He then looked up at the sky, making sure that the shade was caused by a passing cloud and rather than an oncoming storm.

Chief Borun's black eyes widened slowly, jaw dropping, as he watched the sky go black. His first thought was that the citizens of Dreamland were about to be the victim of a sudden, severe storm or tornado. While such events were so rare that most Cappies went their entire lifetimes without seeing one, even Dreamland was not always safe from a rare freak storm. An enormous shadow fell upon every single Cappy in the town square and beyond, blotting out the sun entirely. The joyful murmur of the villagers turned into shouting and gasps of surprise, the high pitched wails of frightened children rising above the din of the crowd. Chief Borun surveyed the scene before casting his eyes upward again, staring hard at the foreboding sky; he didn't expect the blackness to suddenly start staring back down at him.

A single bloodshot eye, so enormous it looked larger than a harvest moon, opened up in the middle of the all-encompassing black cloud. The crowd's confused cries escalated into screams, and the Cappies began to run in all directions in a blind panic. The eye rolled slowly, its terrible gaze moving downwards until it settled on Chief Borun. Borun, frozen in shock and terror, stood transfixed by its nightmarish stare like a trapped prey animal.

All at once the black form's tendrils rapidly descended from the sky; first one, then two, than a dozen and more. Each black cloud-like tendril, enveloped in a swirling purple vortex of smoke, snaked and winded its way to the ground like a thin tornado funnel. Borun watched helplessly as the tendrils began to land, homing in on Cappies in the village, and strike one by one. A young woman was taken by a tendril, screaming as the funnel thinned and flew into her mouth. She managed to choke out a scream that was cut short, the woman falling to the ground convulsing. She then abruptly grew still. A few seconds later, she rose again. Her eyes were closed, her movements stilted and unnatural. Wisps of strange purple smoke, identical to the purple air surrounding the black tendrils, oozed from her mouth and earholes. Borun listened, horrified, as one by one the anguished cries of the village fell silent.

Somehow through the chaos, Chief Borun felt his legs able to move again. He broke out into a run, tripping over himself in his haste to escape. As he ran, he witnessed a tendril descending from the sky directly above him. He continued to run, gasping for air, before his vision suddenly became engulfed in a swirling, violent vortex. Borun tried to scream but found himself unable to, the strange funnel having gone down his throat. Overcome with panic and an instinct to breathe, he fell to his knees while choking.

A new presence filled Chief Borun's mind. It rapidly blossomed within him, causing a feeling as if his brain was quickly being eaten alive by a parasite. The strange force began to take hold, gripping him. His throat cleared, Borun managed to scream twice. During the third attempt, he realized that he could not will his mouth to move. His black eyes, now glowing with a faint and translucent purple from within, slowly closed. Chief Borun continued to scream within his mind, feeling like his very sense of self was trapped in a bubble, as the foreign presence proceeded to seep into the core of his brain. It could access his memories, his desires and dreams. It caused him to breathe, to blink. There was no single part of Chief Borun's body or mine that was his anymore. And all the Cappy could do, trapped within the deepest recesses of his own mind, was watch.

Chief Borun's body stood up, eyes closed. His feet plodded forward, the top half of his body sagging slightly. He walked over to the other taken Cappies, who began to move towards the outskirts of Pupu village all in a mindless herd.

The entire group, women, children, and men alike, began to head towards Dedede's castle.

Fumu looked up from her notes, raising an eyebrow. Not wanting to vomit a chaotic load of information onto her friends based on her findings, she chose to instead put together an orderly set of notes stating what she believed to be the relic with the power to protect Dreamland. It took a lot to tear her from her work, and one of the few things able to do so was the sky suddenly becoming so dark that she needed another light to see well in the castle's study room.

"What the..." Fumu said, looking out the window as the sky became pitch black. Her jaw dropped, the notes she carried in one hand falling to her feet. She screamed, running out into the courtyard. Bun and Kirby were playing outside while she organized her notes; she had to protect them first.

The two young boys met Fumu halfway, the usually strong girl nearly bursting into tears of relief when she saw that Kirby and her little brother were okay. The three then dashed through the halls of the castle, preparing to alert the knights.

Kirby and the children stopped in Meta Knight's room. They found Sword, Blade, and Shieldmaiden all standing in an anxious group. On the windowsill Meta Knight was perched, back facing the group as he stared out at the castle below.

"Sir, it's here!" Fumu cried.

Shieldmaiden's eyes drained of all color, glowing white with fear.

"Dark Matter", she said, voice quavering. "It has come."

"I think I found the right relic to stop this thing!" Fumu said, before opening and closing her hands and checking her pockets. She forgot her notes. She strained her brain, trying to recall as much as she could in the middle of panicking.

"It...it's in the southern jungle! There's a disc that was broken into two even pieces and hidden away because it was feared to be too powerful for a mortal being to hold. If we combine them, it should be enough to stop Dark Matter!"

"Thank the Stars. Good work." Sword said, looking over at her.

Meta Knight turned sideways, the side of his mask facing the group. "We have to get out of here. NOW."

"How?" Fumu asked.

"We'll have to fly there "Meta Knight replied. "We'll have to go to wherever this relic is right away. Shieldmaiden and I can fly - the rest of you are going to have to fit on Warp Star. It's going to be a tight squeeze, but we have no choice."

"B-but what about the Waddle Dees? And the villagers? And...what about Mom and Dad?" Bun asked, voice cracking.

Meta Knight cast his emotionless gaze downwards, his voice solemn. "We'll come back and save them."

Meta Knight looked outside again. Already, Waddle Dees were pouring from the castle's gates in defense of their King. Far into the distance, he could already see the advancing horde – Cappies, every single one of them possessed and moving under Dark Matter's will, were descending upon the castle. Meta Knight knew that every single inhabitant of the castle, from Dedede and Escargon to Fumu and Bun's parents, were doomed. He felt a pang in his heart for all of the denizens of the castle that were going to be consumed by Dark Matter in a matter of minutes, but with his battleship the Halberd destroyed he had no way of getting anyone else to safety. Even fitting five people onto the Warp Star, despite Kirby and Bun being small, was going to be difficult and probably very dangerous. They had no choice but to try.

Meta Knight hopped down from the windowsill. "Let's go."

Fumu fought back tears as the group ran outside of the castle's rear entrance, hands shaking violently as she clasped them together to send her wish for Warp Star. All she could picture was Parm and Memu screaming as they became engulfed in darkness, probably spending the last seconds of their freedom searching for their lost children, before Dark Matter overtook them.

Kirby, the warriors, and the two children ran out of the castle through the back entrance, the same one Meta Knight utilized previously to bring Shieldmaiden in undetected. One by one they emerged from the rear of the castle. Upon exiting the small, poorly-maintained door, they all gasped in horror at the sight.

Even though they could not see what was happening in front of the castle, they got a glimpse of the extent of Dark Matter's control. Already the sky above them had blackened, reaching out past the cliff and a good distance into the sea beyond. From that black cloud tendrils occasionally swooped down, searching for any sentient life within their range, before lifting back up into the cloud again. The tears freely ran down Fumu's cheeks; even as strong as she was, this was too much for her.

"Warp Star!" She cried into the darkness.

It was not long afterward that a bright yellow dot streaked through the sky at blinding speed, soaring towards them before coming to a gentle rest by Kirby's feet. Kirby hopped on and prepared to take off alone, glaring angrily at the sky above.

"No, Kirby! We can't win this, we have to use Warp Star to run!" Meta Knight said.

"Poyo!" Kirby said defiantly, shaking his head. He remained posed on the Warp Star.

"Kirby, please! He's right. We're not running away for good. We're just going to get a weapon that can help us defeat that thing." Fumu added.

Kirby looked her dead in the eye angrily. The rare look of fury on his almost-always cheery face shook her to her core; it was a look reserved for his enemies.

"Please..." she begged. "I don't want to run right now either, but we have to. The sooner we go get the weapon, the sooner we come back! If we go charging in right now, it would be suicide!"

Kirby shut his eyes tight, looking down.

"Poooooyyyo" He said, his eyes opening again. Brimming with tears, they were now filled with sadness rather than anger. He wanted so badly to save the castle right that second, but while he didn't truly understand the nuances of what Fumu and Meta Knight were explaining, he knew that if they both agreed so strongly that there had to be a good reason.

"We're all gonna have to get on Warp Star to fly there...I think if we balance on each point and hold onto it tightly, we'll be okay." Blade reasoned. "Kirby, whatever you do don't hit top speed!"

"Popoyo" Kirby responded with a nod, maneuvering himself from the center of the star to one of its edges. Sword, Blade, Fumu and Bun each got on the star and held onto each point, crowded together on the little star with their bodies facing outward. As they jostled into position, a slim black funnel-shaped cloud began to descend from above them.

"Hold on for your lives! Kirby, get going! Fly South!"

Kirby nodded, face grim with determination, before he lifted off as quickly as he could without tossing his friends off. Warp Star then began to take off. Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden flared their wings and flew after it, the group rapidly outpacing the slow reach of the sky tendril.

They noted as they flew that under the overhang of swirling black sky, a peek of merry blue could be seen. Fumu and Bun could barely keep their eyes open, their hair whipping wildly in and around their face as they clung desperately to the speeding Warp Star.

As they reached the edges of Dark Matter's reach, a small orb descended from the blackness. A single eye, identical to the one Chief Borun saw but far smaller, opened itself. The black orb bobbed in the air for a moment before taking off, slowly drifting in the direction Warp Star had flown in.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Warp Star flew through the sky with its passengers. The five all clung on for dear life as the star cruised at a slower speed than usual, crowded uncomfortably close together on a "vehicle" clearly not made to fit five people. Fumu nudged Bun's foot away in annoyance, which was digging into her side.

"Reminds me of a crowded bus trip..." Fumu grumbled.

"Are we there yet?" Bun asked.

"It's only been ten minutes, guys." Shieldmaiden said, beating her white wings harder to fly closer to Warp Star as she spoke. Her blue eyes narrowed as she peered into the small machine she had been using to track relics, which was about the size and shape of a tablet. "And according to this radar we have about another...oh...four hours."

"Four HOURS?" Bun sputtered. Sword groaned.

Meta Knight coasted forward, flying side by side with Warp Star. He gave the group a sidelong glance. "Better than being back at the castle."

Fumu shut her eyes. Being scrunched up in crowded seating with Bun like a bad family road trip was nothing compared to what Dreamland's denizens were going through. She felt a lump form in her throat as she again thought of Parm and Memu; at least Dark Matter didn't kill its chosen vessels. They were alive. They'd be okay.

She fell silent for the remainder of the ride, watching the clouds go by.

The group flew further and further south. Underneath them, the sea stretched out in an endless expanse of blue. After several hours, the sea ended as they approached the land on the other side of the water. A short stretch of beach soon gave way to a thick carpet of green, impenetrable trees. Bun couldn't help but notice that from their viewpoint up above, the trees looked like broccoli.

In time, the trees changed shape. The clouds appeared to hang lower and lower beneath Warp Star and the winged Star Warriors until it looked like it was snaking through the greenery itself in thin wisps. The ground became more rugged, rising up towards them in the form of small mountains. The sun began to fall as the afternoon progressed, its rays no longer beating down directly above them.

"Stop!" Shieldmaiden called suddenly.

"Poyo-poy!" Kirby cried in surprise, before easing up on the speed of the Warp Star until it stopped completely. Despite Kirby taking care not to jerk his passengers around, the star's momentum was still enough to cause everyone on board to get yanked forward and lean dangerously towards its edge.

Shieldmaiden pointed directly below her, eyes glowing brighter. "Directly below us is where the sight of one part of the relic is...according to this thing, anyway."

Meta Knight nodded, and the two then folded their wings and dived toward the ground. Though he'd never admit it, Meta Knight was deeply thankful that they had finally arrived. Even though his wings were magically induced from his cape and not directly tied to his muscles they still required energy expenditure, and flying for hours was incredibly taxing.

"Woo! Thank goodness" Bun cheered.

They all descended, their speed gradually slowing as they began to enter the thick jungle's canopy. They veered slightly off their exact target to land in a tiny clearing, the only possible place to land that wouldn't get them tangled up in the jungle's impenetrable wall of treetops.

The second Warp Star landed everyone stumbled off, sighing in relief. Sword arched his back, arms on his hips as he bent backward, while Blade reached his arms as far up as his spaulders would allow to stretch his sides. Bun fell to the ground, rubbing his hands in the grass as if he wanted to give the earth itself a hug, while Fumu slowly looked around her with her green eyes widening.

Fumu couldn't believe it - the jungles of Popstar, a place she had read about only in books, was there right before her. The calls of exotic birds and animals she didn't recognize rang in the air, the trees that surrounded them a few feet away in every direction came in a mind-boggling array of size and shapes. A heavy perfume of blooming tropical flowers filled the air. If their reason for visiting wasn't so dire, she would be loving every minute of it.

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden landed close by, Meta Knight's wings immediately reforming into a cape. Shieldmaiden's wings drooped at her sides slightly, too tired to even be folded up properly, as both Star Warriors panted from exhaustion.

Fumu looked at all of her friends, smiling slightly; as long as she had them, and Kirby, she'd be safe. Her eyes bugged. Kirby! She hadn't seen him since Warp Star first touched down on the ground.

"Kirby? Kiiiirbyyy!" Fumu cried out into the jungle. "Kirby, where are you?"

"He ran off that fast?!" Blade asked, turning his head frantically.

A distant "Poyo" responded, echoing through the trees. Seconds later, Kirby returned. A huge banana bunch towered over him, held up over his head by his two stub-like arms. He put the bananas down triumphantly, grinning.

"Wow, Kirby, you're a banana bloodhound! We've only been here for like five minutes!" Bun exclaimed.

"He sure is! Good job, Kirby" Fumu said, patting him on the head.

"Poyoyo!" Kirby said in response as everyone began to gather around for a much-needed meal.

Meta Knight's eyes glowed green thoughtfully as he peeled one of the fruits. "If Kirby was able to find food that fast, that must mean that this region has plenty of things to eat. Good." He lifted his mask quickly, sliding the banana up under the disc to take a bite.

Shieldmaiden nodded. "The jungle will bring with it its own challenges, but at least hunger shouldn't be one of them."

Kirby patiently waited until everyone took a banana before inhaling the entire rest of the bunch in one gulp, nearby discarded peels included.

Fumu blanched. "With Kirby around, we'll need all the food we can get."

Meta Knight glanced westward while wrapped in his cape, yellow eyes glowing softly as he faced the sun. It was falling lower and lower in the sky, indicating that sunset was near. He then turned towards the group, throwing his cape aside.

"We have to make a shelter for nighttime" Meta Knight stated. "Night in the jungle is very dangerous, and heavy rain in this environment is inevitable. We will need wood, good wood that isn't waterlogged, and broad leaves. Hopefully we can get a fire going."

The others nodded.

Meta Knight turned his steady, expressionless gaze to Sword and Blade. "Blade, take Fumu and find us as much food as you can. Plantains and coconuts are likely to grow here, and we already saw bananas. There will probably be seeds and berries as well. Fumu, be very careful when grabbing unfamiliar berries or mushrooms."

Fumu nodded, smiling reassuringly. "I'm aware, Sir. There's most likely poisonous stuff out here."

Blade saluted his leader. "We're on it! Come on, Fumu."

Meta Knight's yellow eyes followed the two as they walked into the dense underbrush, before he turned to face Sword.

"Sword, take Bun and Kirby. Grab lumber for firewood, and any plants that could be useful as kindling. We need dry, firm wood that hasn't been soaked by the rain around here if we want to get a fire going."

"Yes, Sir" Sword responded, saluting him. "Let's go, boys" He said, waving to Bun and Kirby.

"Poyo, poyoyii!" Kirby said with a big grin, running off with Sword and Bun so fast that he quickly outpaced him. A lush, warm place full of yummy fruit and things to explore – Kirby was in paradise.

Shieldmaiden's blue eyes rose to meet Meta Knight's, her wings folding more tightly as she tried to appear less fatigued than she really was. "How may I assist, Sir?"

Meta Knight locked eyes with her for a second before looking away. His yellow eyes scanned the ground around him slowly. He then gestured with his gloved hand out, gesturing at the area around them.

"We're surrounded by young trees in this clearing. Good windbreaks." He began. "We should focus on building a shelter."

"At once, Sir", Shieldmaiden responded.

She gently set her shield down before walking towards the a smallish tree. With her spear out, she used one of its sharp edges to begin severing the stalk. Using the long weapon as a glorified pocketknife was awkward, but efficient.

Meta Knight set his sights on a nearby tree of similar build. With a movement so swift that it caused the nearby birds to screech in alarm he sliced the bark with Galaxia, easily felling the thin tree. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he bent down, picking up the severed lumber.

His smile was hidden behind the mask.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden cut several small trees down before adding vines to their pile of materials. They then spread out beyond the clearing, carefully taking their first steps into the thick bush in search of mossy ground and broad leaves. They didn't have to travel far; several meters into the jungle a tree with large, broad leaves nearly as long as the Star Warrior's bodies hung close to them. They jumped high, using their wings for added height, and sliced at the thick tree branches until enough branches sporting the enormous leaves fell to the ground.

Meta Knight's gloved hand ran over the thick leaf as he held the branch, eyes glowing green.

"Broad and thick. Perfect for our roof."

With no small amount of effort, the two tired Star Warriors hauled their branches through the bushes until they reached the clearing again. Afterwards, Meta Knight began to survey the scene. He eyed two small trees which were nearly perpendicular and several meters apart - considering he and every one of his comrades were not much taller than the 8-inch Kirby, that space would provide plenty of room for them. He stomped around on the ground, bending over to peer at the damp soil underneath them to make sure there were no snake burrows or ant hills. He then turned to face Shieldmaiden.

"This is a good spot." Meta Knight said, gesturing to the trees. "Bring me four branches and some vines."

"Yes, Sir" Shieldmaiden replied, delivering the severed saplings and a trail of long vines that dragged behind her.

Using the vines as string, they lashed the three branches together in a square shape that was about as long as the space between the trees. They then worked more branches of similar size onto the square until it looked like a crude grid. Afterwards, the two Star Warriors used a mix of mud and leaves to create a sparse "ceiling" of leaves to lie over the grid. The two stood back, admiring their handiwork.

Meta Knight nodded approvingly. "It'll do."

Shieldmaiden crawled into the shelter to test it. The shelter offered plenty of room for her, but she knew that with six others sharing the space it was going to be fairly cramped. Still, at least it would offer some protection from the elements.

Meanwhile, Blade and Fumu picked through the jungle. Fumu grimaced, hand waving in front of her face as she constantly had to swat at flies and other buzzing insects. The thrilling jungle stories she had read in the past conveniently left that part out. In front of her stood Blade, hacking away at the impassable wall of greenery with his sword in order to carve them a path. The two traveled at a snail's pace, the jungle's plants being so thick that they couldn't even progress at walking speed.

As they walked, Fumu wondered to herself why she was sent to fetch food instead of Kirby; however, she soon realized that Meta Knight's decision made sense even if Kirby had a better eye for food and the strength to carry more than her and Blade put together. Kirby's patience would have to endure crawling through the jungle and back to their little makeshift camp, all while his arms were full of food. She figured, as did Meta Knight, that Kirby would come back empty-handed but with a full belly. Even the few minutes it took for him to find and retrieve the banana bunch showed a level of restraint Fumu didn't believe Kirby had. She smiled to herself. He did share, and that was what mattered. Slowly, he was learning.

"Wait" Fumu said suddenly, her wandering gaze resting on something that snapped her out of her thoughts. She knelt down and eyed a patch of slim, white mushrooms.

"Um..." Blade began, kneeling beside her to examine the fungus. "Are you sure this is the kind of food we should be bringing back?"

"Of course" Fumu replied, carefully plucking the mushrooms up by the base of their stems. "This species is safe. It won't taste too good, but it won't make us sick either."

"Great" Blade replied in a wilting voice, grimace hidden behind his helmet. "Let's try to find some more bananas, though."

Fumu turned her head to hide her snickering.

Sword, Bun, and Kirby traveled in a different direction at a similarly slow pace, Sword hacking away in front of the party in order to progress through the trees. Bun and Kirby felt every piece of wood that they saw on the ground and branch within arm's reach on the trees, trying desperately to find lumber that hadn't been rained into a mushy, pulpy mess. Bun picked up one long, promising stick only to find it hanging limply in his hands. It then started to move on its own, slowly sliding off of his arm. Bun's blood ran cold as he realized his "stick" was covered in scales.

"SNAAAAKE!" Bun yelled, dropping it as if it were on fire and running so far forward he nearly collided with Sword. Sword turned around swiftly, his blade raised in alarm. Kirby stood there, watching the two curiously as the snake slithered by him on their narrow path.

"Kirby, watch out!" Bun cried.

"Get away from that thing!" Sword added.

Kirby tilted his entire body slightly, before slowly glancing down at the snake. He watched it slither with fascination, feeling no fear. He remembered fighting a Demon Beast much like the creature that slithered before him, but this was a wild animal which didn't have the mark of Nightmare. It wasn't even attacking. What were Sword and Bun scared of?

"Kirby! Come here!" Bun said, waving his arm to beckon him.

"Poyo!" Kirby responded with a smile, hopping over the snake and skipping to the other two.

All three pairs of eyes watched the snake's thin body, which blended remarkably well with the jungle floor, until it slithered across the path and into the bushes out of view.

"That was close..." Bun said, clutching his heart.

Sword remained standing with his arm protectively held out in front of the other two until the threat had passed. He sheathed his sword and glanced back at the path they had made. Though not visible, a light rattle of armor could be heard as the warrior shuddered. He hated snakes.

"Let's head back", Sword said nervously.

Bun nodded vigorously, Kirby mimicking his nods a beat later with a grin.

In time, both search parties returned to the clearing with their goods in tow. Fumu and Blade arrived first; they had found mushrooms, berries, and bananas. Kirby, Bun and Sword arrived later with handfuls of the driest grass they could find a few sticks for firewood. Their number of chosen pieces was small, but each piece was carefully selected as the driest they could find.

They all blinked in surprise as they examined the shelter, a square-shaped piece of wood coated with leaves. It was propped between the two perpendicular trees, the three together forming a crude triangular "tent". Fumu's jaw dropped.

"You guys made that?" She asked.

Shieldmaiden nodded. "It's not much, but it'll protect us from the elements."

Meta Knight gave a single nod. "It should at least hold up for the night...no guarantees after that."

Meta Knight then turned his attention to the pile of wood presented by Sword, Bun, and Kirby. With a gloved hand, he gestured over to where they should place their findings. The group then began to make themselves as "at home" as possible, with Bun, Sword and Blade using the wood and tinder to start a fire. Meta Knight watched them, his gaze cold and unwavering. Though he did his best to hide it, he was absolutely exhausted from all of the work they had done and felt increasingly dirty and sticky from hours of labor in high humidity. He couldn't decide if he wanted a bath or a nap more; considering the group hadn't found a body of water yet, he figured a bath would be impossible. At least he could get some sleep soon.

Thinking of water reminded him of his growing thirst as well; he was sure that the others, considering they had been slogging through the jungle for several hours after a long and unexpected flight, were thirsty as well. He looked to the sky, squinting. The broadest leaves he and Shieldmaiden could find were ready and standing by to collect rainwater. However, they were effectively useless without rain. Drinking river water or dew from unfamiliar plant species was too risky; they could be poisoned. They'd have no choice but to wait for rain. He slipped a gloved hand under his mask briefly, wiping the sweat off his brow.

Sword, meanwhile, sat hunched over the pile of wood they had gathered rubbing sticks together vigorously. After nearly a half hour of frustrated curses and fruitless effort, a spark finally caught on the pile of branches the group had gathered.

"Cool..." Bun said, marveling at the sight as the fire finally came to life.

"Don't let up" Sword said quickly. "Keep feeding it!"

Sword, Bun, and Blade worked together in the dimming daylight to get the fire strong before night rendered them too blind to accomplish anything. Meanwhile, the others traded what food was found amongst themselves and ate their fill.

In time, night fell. The birds fell silent, while the insects seemed to grow louder. The beautiful green seemed to evaporate in the shadow of night, surrounding the group in an overwhelming blackness. Fumu felt a chill go up her spine; she knew that if the fire went out, they would have nothing but a thin trail of moonlight to see anything. If they were lucky.

"Well..." Blade said as he toasted a tiny mushroom on a stick as if it were a marshmallow, "We did it."

Shieldmaiden nodded from her position seated next to him, the seven crowded around the small fire.

"We survived, but we can't remain idle. Tomorrow, we have to set out for the relic. It must be close by...maybe directly under our feet!"

"Do you suppose it's in a cave?" Sword piped up from the opposite side of Blade. "I can't imagine something like that just sitting out in the open in a place like this."

Fumu nodded. "That's highly likely. If I remember correctly from my notes, it's deep within an enclosed space of sorts...whether it was a natural cave, or some form of ruin or monument left behind by the civilization who once lived here, is unknown."

"Poyo poy, poyoyo...mmfloymmffh...Poyo!" Kirby chimed in, saying his "piece" in between mouthfuls of wildberries.

Shieldmaiden chuckled. "Well said, Kirby."

Meta Knight said nothing, silently watching the group. In the glimmer of the firelight, Fumu could swear that she saw his eyes tint a faint pink.

It was not long after dinner that the group collectively retired to their crude shelter. Sword felt his heart sink a little as the fire he and the others worked so hard on winked out. Bathed in darkness, the group fumbled through the few feet from the campfire to their shelter in order to settle in for the night. Fumu noticed from what little she could see that Meta Knight, Shieldmaiden, and Kirby all seemed to find their way to the shelter easier than others, even without the aid of the fire's light. She also noted that the two armored Star Warrior's eyes glowed just as brightly in the dark, and even Kirby's dark blue eyes seemed to glow slightly. She silently wondered if their species had better night vision than her own, their lenses reflecting as much light as possible much like a cat - it would certainly explain the odd glow their eyes took on in dark conditions.

It was not long before nearly everyone in the tent, nearly bumping against each other in their attempt to keep within the shelter's walls, passed out from sheer exhaustion. Bun and Kirby were first, falling asleep in terribly contorted positions that looked far more uncomfortable than they probably were. Sword and Blade were next to drift off; leaning back to back and facing opposite directions, the two snored in sync. Shieldmaiden slept sitting as well, her wings puffed and folded like that of a sleeping bird. Fumu herself, despite her great exhaustion, seemed to have trouble falling asleep. She did her best not to toss and turn, not wanting to disturb the others resting so close to her, but her frantic mind kept running the same troubling thoughts though her head in a cycle; what if her parents couldn't be saved? What if one or all of them died in the jungle from injury, disease, or predation? What if Shieldmaiden's radar was off, like it was for Galaxia, and all of their efforts still couldn't stop Dark Matter? Her thoughts continued to race until they became increasingly disjointed, becoming more nonsensical and fragmentary until they faded to nothing as the tired girl finally drifted off.

Meta Knight reclined with his back against one of the shelter's tree trunks as far away from the others as possible, which given the space in the tent, was only several inches. His yellow eyes pierced the darkness. With everyone sound asleep, even Fumu, he silently watched over them. Although exhausted a mixture of being uncomfortable from the crowded conditions, from thirst, and from being deeply filthy from all of the work done that day caused him to have trouble sleeping as well. The only thing stronger than his yearning for his bed at home was a fear of jungle animals sneaking up on them at night. This was the worst possible environment to let one's guard down. He was going to suggest that he, Sword and Blade took shifts, but considering how tired the two seemed he didn't bother. He could do the job.

Meta Knight's golden eyes slowly scanned over the group of sleeping friends until his eyes rested on Shieldmaiden. He watched her quietly, allowing his gaze to linger for longer than usual now that no one could judge him for doing so. Her wings randomly twitched before puffing up and refolding themselves slightly while the Star Warrior slept; he stifled a chuckle. He admitted, to no one but himself within the recesses of his own mind, that he had grown rather fond of her. Though not social in the slightest, and though he had more company than he could've ever imagined in Dreamland, it was still nice to talk to another one of his own species - especially another Star Warrior.

Meta Knight's eyes then drifted towards Kirby, sprawled out on the far corner of the tent with Bun's limp hand draped over his face. Their strange, contorted positions reminded him of how he'd find his old war buddies, sprawled out after too many drinks, but he knew that children could somehow pass out in positions like that comfortably. He wondered how young Kirby would grow and mature, having already fought more battles in his time than some of his own kind did in their entire lives. What would he have to say when his vocabulary had grown beyond "Poyo?"

Meta Knight chose to ruminate over these thoughts rather than darker, more pressing matters, knowing that doing so was pointless at the moment. In time, his eyes began to dim out behind the mask. He shook himself awake several times, blinking rapidly, before a few minutes later sliding off again. He slumped forward, eyes dimmed out entirely.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

CRASH.

Fumu jumped up with a startled yell, eyes wide and heart pounding. The deafening noise that had awoken her, sounding almost like a gigantic whip being cracked, was punctuated by deep, rolling echoes loud enough to cause the ground underneath her to vibrate. She groaned, rubbing her temples as her brief moment of blind, instinctual fear gave way to logic. Thunder.

The others had all woken up simultaneously from the noise as well. Bun and Kirby clutched each other tightly, before Bun realized that the noise was just thunder and tried to save face by folding his arms. Kirby, caring a bit less about his ego, hopped over the group with an almost unnatural speed to reach Fumu. She felt him bury his warm face in her side and smiled, patting his head.

"It's okay Kirby, just thunder. It scared me too."

The armor-clad warriors, all startled out of their sleep as well, sat tensely in the tent. Fumu looked outside; it was still dark, either very late at night or very early in the morning. A second crack of thunder then tore through the air, the strike landing so close that everyone was blinded before the blast of sound hit a split second later.

Meta Knight looked outside, wrapped in his cape, staring out at the blinding flashes of light without so much as a flinch.

"Be ready to collect rainwater" he said, his deep voice sounding oddly soft in contrast to the deafening thunder that still echoed around them.

The Star Warrior was right. Less than a minute after the first thunder strike which woke them all up, rain began to pour down in the jungle. Their shelter, strong enough to hold up against light drizzles and breezes, was no match for a torrent of real rainfall. The leaves above them buckled under the water before giving way, dousing them with splashes of surprise water as if they were being bombed from above by water balloons. Sword looked up nervously before a section of roof above him collapsed, sending a torrent of water right into the frontal opening of his helmet. Blade laughed at his friend, who was letting loose all manner of curses not appropriate for the children present, before the roof gave way and hit him as well.

"HAH!" Sword said triumphantly as Blade looked up, sheepish, the red decorative plume on top of his helmet draped limp and soaking over his helmet like soaked hair.

Meta Knight turned to glare at them before narrowly dodging a trickle of water springing from the ceiling above him.

"This shelter is spent. Spread out and collect as much rainwater as you can." Meta Knight ordered, throwing the lower half of his cape over his head to shield himself from the rain as much as possible before stepping out into the soaking wet jungle.

"He's right" Fumu added, frowning as she addressed the group. "And if you're thirsty, you'd better get a drink now. This is going to be the freshest water we can get for a while."

Kirby was already way ahead of them. He stood outside, reveling in the feeling of raindrops hitting his hot face and body after having been active in the jungle for hours. He tilted his head back and held his large mouth open wide, using it as a basin to collect and drink as much rainwater as possible.

Bun looked at Fumu, hands on his elbows and clearly uncomfortable with the notion. "What about the lightning? It sounded awfully close..."

Fumu leaned over to pat her brother on the shoulder. "The worst of that has passed, at least. Also, lightning prefers to hit tall things and we're surrounded by trees. We'd be more in danger from a tree getting struck by lightning and falling on us than lightning itself."

Bun's eye roll was hidden behind his bangs. "Thanks, Sis, that's so much more comforting!"

Fumu grinned sheepishly as she realized how her words of encouragement backfired. "Oops. Sorry."

The two siblings left the tent last.

Outside, everyone used the rain for both drinking and showering. Meta Knight walked a good distance away from the others, making sure no one could see him, before he quickly removed his mask and allowed the rain to wash the side of the disc that covered his face. He then did the same to the rest of his armor systematically, allowing the torrential downpour to act as a pressure washer on his spaulders and sabatons. He would've rather had a warmer, less sudden wash but at least he had the opportunity to cleanse his body and armor with the purest water possible in their environment.

All seven used the firmer, broader leaves, the same types used for their shelter's roofing, to collect as much rainwater as possible. Though nowhere near as efficient as a bowl, they did allow a small degree of collection. The group then, their shelter destroyed and their bodies now soaked to the bone with rainwater, took as much shelter as they could by hiding under whatever they could find. A large, nearby tree with fairly low branches was the closest thing to a roof they could find, and all 7 crowded tightly under the space. The sky began to turn a deep grayish-blue through the rain; dawn was coming.

Bun shivered. "You know what it's like when you go to take a shower, and you turn it on, and the faucet spits out really cold water, and you wait for it to heat up, but it never does because the heat's broken or something? That's what this feels like, doesn't it?"

Meta Knight looked at the young boy from the corner of his eye. "An apt metaphor."

Bun looked at Meta Knight and tilted his head slightly. He then turned to look at Fumu, head tilting in another direction.

Fumu grinned. "He said yeah, totally like that."

"Oh!" Bun said, quizzical expression turning into a smile.

"Po-y-y-y-y-o" Kirby stammered, shivering. Fumu, frowning, held the smaller creature in her arms in an attempt to warm him.

"It'll be over soon." Fumu said soothingly.

Shieldmaiden stood with her back to the tree, wings spread and mantled over her like a hawk. Sword and Blade crouched nearby, each one holding one of the broad leaves over their heads. Meta Knight looked downwards at his feet. He noticed the ground beneath him growing slick and muddy, thin channels of water forming between and around his legs like a miniature delta. He frowned.

"We should head to higher ground" Meta Knight said, lifting a purple sabaton that was already trying to stick into the mud. "The water level is rising rather quickly..."

Blade nodded. "Flooding right now would be bad news."

"What about our water supply?" Fumu asked, brow furrowed in worry.

Meta Knight glanced down at their carefully arranged circle of leaves, a short distance away. Already the water was rising so high around the leaves that several had already drifted off with the rainwater.

Meta Knight's eyes dimmed. "It would take longer to die of thirst than to drown..."

"He's got a point" Shieldmaiden interjected in a lighter tone, trying to soften his words and preserve the group's morale. "It'll rain again in the jungle. We can collect water again. But if we get flooded out, that's a way tougher problem to solve and one that we can't exactly wait for a fix to."

Fumu grimaced. Though the idea of walking away from what little water they had bothered her, she knew they were both right. If they all got overwhelmed and swept into a nearby river, it was highly likely that all but the strongest swimmers would drown.

She nodded to the two. "Let's go."

The group moved at once through the jungle. Sword and Blade took the lead, still being forced to hack their way through the foliage even as the rain poured down on them. Half-blind from the poor early morning lighting and the torrential rain, they had no idea where they were going; they were simply heading to what felt like higher ground. The others held their ground behind them, lifting their feet constantly even if in place to avoid getting them stuck in the pale brown, muddy water that rushed underneath them. In time, the rain slowed; the others, cold and soaked, were finally able to see more than several feet in front of them. As they walked, they noticed that the ground underneath them felt less soft and more solid. A steady beeping began to come from Shieldmaiden. She reached into her own armor to pull out her transmitter, which had been protected from the worst of the rain by staying in her breastplate. The machine appeared to detect something.

Sword and Blade continued to hack through the jungle, taking turns with their swords at the trees as they painstakingly carved a single-file path through the rainforest. Blade raised his arm to chop the next batch of foliage out of the way, only to notice that there wasn't enough to merit force. Curiously, he pushed the strands out of the way with his hand easily and walked forward. He looked behind at Sword, who proceeded to follow him.

"Hey, I think the jungle's lighteni-AAH!" Blade dropped, disappearing in front of Sword's eyes.

"BLADE!" Sword cried, leaning forward.

Less than a second later, the group heard a light splash.

Meta Knight rushed forward, cape unfurling into wings as he stepped past Sword. He stopped, teetering on the precipice of a sudden edge; the ground gave way to a strange, curiously-shaped square pit. Gripping the ledges with his hands, Meta Knight leaned in.

"Blade. Are you okay?" Meta Knight called into the pit.

"Unnnghh...yeah, fine..." a weary voice responded from the hole. "Whoa...hey guys, you should come down here and check this out."

Meta Knight looked to Sword, cocking a hidden eyebrow. Sword looked back at him before gripping the ledge, slowly lowering his body into the pit backwards with his feet feeling around for a foothold. He suddenly slipped, hands loosening, before falling into the hole.

The clang of metal on metal echoed upwards from the chamber as Sword collided into Blade. Sword rose, dizzy and already caked with a new lair of mud, before his hidden jaw dropped at what Blade had seen. Carved within the rock on the other end of the large pit, nearly hidden by the jungle's greenery, there stood what appeared to be the entrance to a ruin or tomb. A small square door, rounded and weathered with age, stood at the end of a crude and mossy doorway. Shafts of morning sunlight seeped through the door's entrance, revealing blackness within. The others followed, Shieldmaiden and Meta Knight using their wings to safely carry in Fumu and Bun respectively. Kirby gently floated in behind them, using his balloon-like flying ability to ensure a gentle landing.

Fumu's jaw dropped, eyes widening. She couldn't believe what she was seeing - actual ruins. Ruins that may have never been discovered by modern civilization before, a site that was possibly unknown to Popstar's finest scientists! She started to quiver in place, tired face breaking into a huge smile.

"This...is...incredible." she managed to say.

Meta Knight's eyes rested on Shieldmaiden's detecting machine. It was beeping as rapidly as if it were an alarm clock. Shieldmaiden looked up from the device, her cyan eyes meeting his.

"I think we found the site of our first piece."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The group slowly filed into the dark doorway, Blade leading the group with his sword out in case it was needed. As he walked inside, he paused in disbelief; these ruins appeared to have been built inside a cave. A tiny path of weathered stones, almost completely covered up by debris, marked the entryway. Meta Knight's eyes scanned the darkness as he stepped inside. He guessed that the ruins were inhabited by a lost civilization long before electrical lighting was invented, and if they wanted to see where they were going they'd need a torch. He swept up a dry piece of wood that had been laying among some debris a few feet into the cave, probably blown in by a storm, and carefully cut a cross section of notches into it using Galaxia. He then gathered some small, dry bits of grass from the same debris pile and stuffed them into the notches. The Star Warrior then carefully put the torch away, next to where Galaxia was sheathed, and began to scout the area for a useful pitch.

To his surprise, though, what he found instead appeared to be tiny balls of light that gave the group just enough to see beyond the sunlight's reach into the dark ruins. Curious, he walked towards one such ball of light. Up close, he could see that the lighting was caused by bio-luminescent fungus colonies growing on the ruin's walls.

Fumu and Shieldmaiden walked up to him, followed closely by the others. They examined the ball of glowing fungus curiously.

"Incredible..." Fumu said to herself. "Bio-luminescent fungi. No wonder the ancient civilization chose to build this cave. It must have looked like magic to them."

Shieldmaiden nodded. "Never seen anything quite like that before...but at least we shouldn't need a torch now."

Bun reached out a finger tentatively, poking the colony. He then yanked it back, shaking his hand rapidly.

"Eww...it's all cold and slimy."

The others giggled amongst themselves as Meta Knight stood by, silent. He waved his hand before walking deeper into the cave.

"Let's go."

The group continued in silence, making their way through the room. A few dozen feet into the cave and all signs of man-made building vanished, the ceiling suddenly opening up into a vast cave.

Stalactites and stalagmites grew from the cave, rising from the ground and hanging from the ceiling like the teeth of a carnivore. No sound could be heard but a very slight trickle of water, several small channels winding their way through the rocks. The area around them was poorly lit, with little of the area visible beyond the small radius of several colonies of glowing fungi.

Bun couldn't believe his eyes. "Wow...this is so cool. Echo!" He yelled, putting his hands to his mouth to carry the sound better.

Meta Knight flinched. "Don't do-"

"Poyooo!" Kirby called out, his voice even louder. He then held an arm to his earhole playfully, listening to the echo of his own voice "talk" back to him. What he heard, however, was instead a strange rustling and squeaking noise.

Meta Knight ducked as low to to the ground as his rounded body allowed, hands above his head. "Duck!"

"Duck? Wh-" Bun asked, before the strange sound hit his ears. From the blackness of the cavern's ceiling, a pulsing cloud of winged creatures descended upon the group.

"Bats!" Blade cried, ducking along with Meta Knight. The rest of the group followed suite, heads tucked low with hands over them for cover.

In seconds a wave of startled bats descended upon them, flying through and past them as they made their way towards the cave's entrance. Invisible in the dim light, the only way to tell that the swarm of rodents was heading towards them was through the cacophony of squeaks and beating wings.

Shieldmaiden shut her helmet entirely, blind but protected. In seconds she felt a repeated pinging against her armor and heard metallic scraping noises as the bat's wings and claws rammed into her. She felt a repeated tugging and bumping sensation on her wings as the bat's wings scraped against them. Fumu and Bun, not having armor to protect them, felt the bats on their face. Fumu felt nearly overwhelmed, hands protecting her eyes instead of her skull as she felt the bats flap by and occasionally bump into her. A wingtip of one wing carried away a strand of her hair, nearly getting caught before it freed itself with a rough tug. Kirby had no defenses for the bats whatsoever, but his pliable body was able to duck so low to the ground that he was able to avoid most of the onslaught. In a few seconds it passed; the noises stopped as the swarm had moved past them and escaped through the cave's entrance.

Meta Knight looked up slowly, one gloved hand removed from his head. "Looks like it's over."

Fumu and Bun looked up, their hair a ruffled mess and their faces covered in tiny scratches. Sword, Blade, and Shieldmaiden were mostly unphased by the onslaught thanks to their armor, and Kirby nearly flattening himself on the ground completely allowed him to avoid them.

"No more loud noises!" Fumu snapped, her hair so tousled from the swarm that much of it escaped her ponytail and hung in front of her face like Bun's bangs.

"Sorry..." Bun responded with a small frown, running a hand through his own hair.

Kirby watched the two quietly, disturbed by Fumu's mood but not understanding why the bats upset her so much. They didn't actively attack, after all. Mirroring the two, he touched the part of his head where hair would be if he had any.

"The bats were harmless, at least." Sword said as he stood back up. "We just startled them out of roosting. It could've been worse."

Meta Knight offered a curt nod in response as he straightened his posture before wrapping himself up in his cape again. "Indeed. Now, let's get moving."

Shieldmaiden withdrew her relic sensor, inching the sound up with a dial on its side. The steady blips it had once emitted had turned into a frantic, alarm-clock like beeping. Meta Knight visibly jumped at the noise, startled, before leaning in closer. The screen was lighting up.

Shieldmaiden pushed several buttons on the device, brow creasing; she was worried about its battery life. Although they were designed to go without power for a long time, they couldn't last forever and there was no way to generate more electricity for it. If it chose to die at the wrong time, they'd be completely stranded with no way to track either of the relic's pieces. At least it appeared that they were very close to one half of it. She hit several more buttons on the device, trying to further narrow down the location of the power source. The machine drew a crude graph for her, indicating that it was several levels directly below them. It then emitted a few rapid, garbled word-like sounds in a curiously rhythmic pattern.

"What was _that_?" Sword asked.

"I think your machine's busted..." Blade chimed in, leaning forwards as well.

Fumu heard a faint "Heh" in a deep, familiar voice and turned to look at Meta Knight. His eyes appeared to flash green for a second, before settling into a faint pink hue.

"Oops" Shieldmaiden replied sheepishly, hitting a few more buttons. "Sorry. This thing's fine, it was just set to my home language."

"Your home language...?" Fumu began, before stopping herself.

Of course Shieldmaiden, coming from an entirely different planet, wouldn't speak Fumu's own birth tongue naturally. She recalled when asking how visitors such as Silica could understand them that Meta Knight informed her that nearly all soldiers in the Galaxy Soldier Army cast their own home languages aside to speak a unified, common tongue - the same one spoken in Dreamland. This was done to break down barriers between species, build camaraderie, and most importantly allow important messages to be fluently relayed without any translation issues. She turned to glance at Meta Knight again with one eyebrow raised. He and Shieldmaiden were, to the best of her knowledge, the same species - did he understand that thing? Was that his home language, too?

"Yeah, never bothered to adjust the settings since I was the only one using it. Anyway, it wants us to go down and east" Shieldmaiden said, turning the volume down again to save power. "We're gonna have to go as deep into this cave as we can."

The group ventured deeper into the cave, each step becoming more and more dangerous as their pathway became darker and narrower. As they walked, Sword felt half of his foot land on dead air. He stepped back abruptly, holding out his hand to protect the others from walking in front of him. In front of him, the cave gave way to blackness.

"A dead end..." Blade murmured, eyeing the pit.

"I don't think so" Shieldmaiden said, watching her radar go crazy. "There's more to this cave. We have to get down there somehow..."

Meta Knight's eyes dimmed slightly. "The only way down there is to climb. And we don't have any rope. That would be extremely dangerous."

"Couldn't we just fly down there?" Shieldmaiden asked.

Meta Knight's eyes began to tint green as one hand rubbed the part of his mask where his chin would be. "Hmm...we may have no other choice."

He turned to Shieldmaiden."You and I should go first, along with Kirby. We need to make sure there's safe ground to land on down there. Sword and Blade can stay up here with Fumu and Bun. If it's safe, they can follow us down."

He walked over to a colony of mushrooms growing amongst the rocks and grabbed a few, frowning as the slimy cold fungi stained his nice gloves. "This could be our 'flashlight'."

The two armored Star Warriors took some of the glowing mushrooms in their hands, peering down into the blackness. Kirby, who needed his arms to steer, would simply have to follow them from above.

Meta Knight's eyes grew wider as he stared into the black pit until they were almost perfectly round, heart beginning to race. He knew that what they were about to do was so dangerous that it bordered on suicide. There could be cave-ins, rocks that hindered their wings, passageways narrowing until they could no longer fly and could even get stuck. He shut his eyes slowly and tilted his head back, steeling his nerves. This was no time to let fear take over.

His cape responded to his will, splitting in two and forming visible bones, sinew, and muscle in a fraction of a second. He spread his bat-like wings, held the fungi out in front of him, and hopped into the hole.

Meta Knight flew downward as cautiously as he could, flapping his wings desperately in order to control his falling speed. He lowered himself downward, the mushrooms he held giving off an eerie green light that illuminated only about a foot in front of him. Directly in front of him, he could see nothing but rock. A few feet above him Shieldmaiden flew, the area around them silent except for the beats of their wings. Above her was Kirby, who used his ability to gently float downwards. Meta Knight took note of the rock wall as they descended; it was rough and appeared to be full of handholds; suitable for climbing. That would make the journey easier for Sword and Blade, at least. He wished that he and Shieldmaiden had the strength to carry them too, but that was impossible. Even without their armor on the two men were bigger and heavier than Fumu and Bun, who the Star Warriors could already barely carry safely.

"Are they okay?" Fumu asked timidly, looking downward as the tiny green circles grew smaller and smaller.

"I'm sure they're fine" Blade replied, quavering voice betraying his nerves.

After several minutes that felt far longer for everyone involved, Meta Knight saw the ground looming beneath him. He sighed audibly from behind his mask, relieved that the tunnel didn't go on for miles or end in water. His focus on the ground took away from keeping an eye on the surroundings in front of him, and as his wings beat through the dead air one flapped downward onto a protruding rock.

Meta Knight felt his wing bone snap like a twig, feeling no pain as it wasn't biologically a part of his body but able to sense that it had been damaged. He looked up sharply just in time to watch his battered wing fold in on itself at an unnatural angle before wilting and going limp, reforming into a cape. He let out a surprised cry as his wings disappeared, causing him to plummet downwards.

"Sir Meta Knight!" Shieldmaiden cried out in alarm, flapping her wings less to try and descend faster.

Meta Knight barely had time to react; it took him less than 2 seconds to fall roughly 20 feet. He fell on the ground face-first, the sound of flesh and metal colliding with the ground echoing up the tunnel.

Shieldmaiden flew downwards as fast as she could, folding her wings against her body and allowing her own body to drop for a second in order to avoid the ledge that hit Meta Knight. She landed next to him a few tense seconds later and shook his back, calling his name.

Meta Knight's eyes blinked open. The first thing he was aware of was that he had a terrible headache, the effect of the ground and his own mask smashing into his species equivalent of a skull. The next thing he was aware of was a curious, coppery taste in his mouth. Blood. He slowly sat up, wearily looking over to see Shieldmaiden's blue eyes glowing in the darkness.

While such an injury would have been disastrous for most species, their kind was almost perfectly designed to absorb falls - a short compact body, light body weight, stout limbs, and no skeleton to speak of barring a simple cartilage framework for their "spines" all meant that falls did little damage to their species. Meta Knight's real damage came from his own mask smashing into his face with the force of a minor automobile accident. He felt a slight warmth from his noseholes, odd moist lines tracing themselves down his face and body. He recognized the feeling of blood trickling downwards in a slight nosebleed.

"Are you okay? You're okay! Oh thank the Stars" Shieldmaiden yammered as Meta Knight rightened himself.

In a swift motion he was unprepared for, Shieldmaiden leaned forward and gave him a big hug from the side. Meta Knight realized what was happening a beat later and choked slightly, heart pounding for an entirely different reason than what had just happened. His noseholes began to bleed a lot harder.

"Poyoyoii!" Kirby cried out from above the two, exhaling several feet above the ground to land safely. The second his feet touched the ground he sprinted forward and gave Meta Knight a hug as well.

Meta Knight's eyes bugged; this was too much. He wrapped himself in his cape and disappeared entirely, reappearing several feet away from the two. Both Star Warriors held the air where Meta Knight once was before releasing it and whirling around to see where he then stood, jaws agape. Neither had seen him teleport before.

He held out a hand in a blocking motion, waving his wrist. "I'm fine, really. Thanks."

Meta Knight looked up, seeing nothing but blackness above. "We'll have to carry the others down one by one. Sword and Blade may be too heavy...they'll have to climb down themselves."

Meta Knight's masked grimace hidden, he turned his head away from both Star Warriors to lift his mask and spit blood. He wiped the still-running blood away from his mouth, flicking it away with a scowl before readjusting his mask and turning to face them. His head throbbed mercilessly in pain, the area between his eyes and mouth hurting the most, but he couldn't dwell on it.

"Kirby, you can't pick anyone up since you don't have wings. Stay here and make sure the area stays clear of danger."

"Poyo!" Kirby replied, nodding enthusiastically.

Meta Knight then looked to Shieldmaiden, who was still eyeing him. He found himself unable to meet her gaze, choosing instead to look just past her. His head was still pounding; curiously enough, his heart was too. He wasn't sure if the fall or the hug scrambled his brain more, but there was no time to dwell on either her actions or his own injury; they had to keep moving. He spread his wings, which were mended anew from transforming back into a cape, and crouched in preparation to spring forward.

"Ready to fly?"

Shieldmaiden nodded, her own wings unfurling. "Always."

Clutching his mushroom "light", Meta Knight jumped into the air and began to fly back upwards out of the pit. Shortly afterwards, Shieldmaiden joined him. Kirby watched the two fly upwards, one arm-tip by his mouth in concern. Not only was he now alone in darkness, but he also felt uneasy with Fumu and the others out of his sight.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Fumu, Bun, Sword and Blade stood at the edge of the pit nervously. They heard Meta Knight's cry and the other two's panicked response, the sound echoing upwards to reach them. Shortly afterwards, they heard Shieldmaiden and Kirby's cries relief and all gave a collective sigh. A few minutes later, they heard the sound of wing beats echo closer as Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden rose back up from the pit.

"Sir Meta Knight!" Fumu cried. "Are...are you okay?" She noticed his mask had red dots and that his glove had several dull, reddish-brown streaks. Meta Knight's wings fell limply into a cape, which he quickly wrapped around himself to better conceal his bloodied gloves. He lifted his head slightly and nodded.

"I'm fine, thank you." Meta Knight replied in a level tone. He then looked back down at the pit.

"Fumu, you and Bun will have to be carried down. Sword and Blade, you're going to have to climb. You're just too heavy for us."

Sword and Blade nodded, speaking in unison. "Yes, Sir."

"Okay guys," Shieldmaiden said gently. "Walk a bit closer to the edge."

Fumu walked forward first, her feet trembling with each step. She knew that this was safer than climbing, since it was dark and she and Bun had zero climbing experience, but that didn't make being carried into blackness any less scary. Meta Knight handed her the glowing mushrooms he had been holding - already, they were beginning to dim out. The masked Star Warrior then stood behind Fumu.

"Are you ready?"

Fumu gulped and, eyes squeezed shut, nodded.

She felt two gloved hands wrap around her side, under her arms, before her feet suddenly didn't touch ground anymore. She felt cold metal press on her back and heard an audible grunt of effort as Meta Knight lifted her up, struggling with the weight. Although a brave girl, she was still being carried into a narrow pit of blackness with no restraints but the arms of a clearly struggling friend and nothing a fading light to guide them both. She began to flail her arms instinctively.

"Fumu!" Meta Knight gasped, exasperated.

She knew that she was making his job harder and held still, trembling under his touch as she clung to the mushrooms. The two descended rapidly, Meta Knight unable to control his fall as well while holding a creature that weighed at least as much as him, if not more. When the part of the journey came where the rocks threatened to brush against his wings, Meta Knight folded them and allowed them to drop for a split second. Fumu twitched.

"It's okay, it's okay." Meta Knight said quickly, flapping to regain their usual speed as he safely lowered them down onto the ground.

The second they touched the cave floor Fumu fell to her knees, shaking, while Meta Knight sat back and gasped for air. Kirby ran over to Fumu and patted her back, sensing her fear.

"It's good to see you, Kirby" Fumu said, visibly shaken but still managing a smile.

Shortly afterwards, Bun and Shieldmaiden landed. Bun clutched the ground in a similar way that he did when first landing into the jungle from Warp Star; he'd never admit it, especially since he felt a need to look tough in front of the warriors and his sister, but all he wanted to do was go home.

The four then looked up, all concerned about Sword and Blade.

Sword climbed down cautiously, each step carefully chosen in advance and tested with slight pressure before he trusted the foothold with his full weight. The armored warrior clutched the mushroom in one hand as a crude flashlight as he climbed down with the other. His heart was in his throat; he hated heights, but he knew that he'd have no choice but to climb. A few feet above him, Blade climbed down as well. The two made their journey far slower than the Star Warriors did by flight, each step carefully chosen.

After about a half hour, the two made it to the cave floor. Sword hopped to the floor, shaking but alive, as the others cheered for him. Blade landed several minutes later, but his landing was a good deal shakier.

"My leg...guys, my leg..." he said, voice strained.

Sword and Meta Knight rushed forward as Blade laid on his back, allowing them access to his species 'leg' - more accurately, the region where his body and feet met. Sword took Blade's feet in his hand and gently moved it back and forth. The movement caused Blade to let out a groan, body shaking in pain.

Meta Knight watched Blade as Sword moved his foot, eyes green. "Sprained. Not broken, thankfully."

The two helped Blade to his feet, Sword wrapping his arm around his friend's body and walking him forward as Blade hopped on his one good foot.

Sword patted Blade's back. "We got you, buddy."

"Thanks" Blade managed to say, a pained but genuine smile hidden behind his helmet.

The group began to progress into the cave further. They noticed that their path was increasingly narrow, that no new fungi grew within its depths. The mushrooms held in their hands, deprived of nutrition and dying, were losing their light as well. Before they could go out entirely, Meta Knight withdrew the torch from his cape. Using the blade Galaxia and a piece of rock from the ground, he hit the two together over the top of the torch until it caught fire, the sparks from the friction of sword on rock being the catalyst. He held the flaming torch above his head while the rest of the group proceeded into the now lit pathway. Shieldmaiden remained silent as the party moved forward, yet her eyes glowed green as she watched him hold the lit torch. She was impressed.

As the group walked forward, they noted that the pathway began to slowly give way into a far larger room. In the room, far beyond the reach of the torch and into blackness, a shining yellow light could be seen.

Meta Knight was so surprised he nearly dropped the torch. Shieldmaiden pointed, wings trembling.

"There it is! The relic!"

The entire group quickened their pace, Sword and Blade falling behind slightly due to Blade's injury. The light grew closer as they walked forward, the light appearing so bright it looked as if a tiny sun had been placed in the chamber. Soon, they were within arm's reach.

The relic was a beautiful, golden half of a disc that gave off such a bright light at a close range that it was difficult to look at directly. Carved into the disc were hundreds of tiny, intricate symbols, no two designs repeating themselves. The strange artifact was light and about six inches wide, and it rested on a rock that was mostly natural but both very deliberately placed where it was and also flattened on the top where the relic sat. Meta Knight held out his hand to the others before anyone could grab the disc, eyeing the surrounding area very carefully first. He knelt downwards to examine the base of the rock and peered behind it, making sure there were no traps. Satisfied after a thorough search, he slowly reached forward before grabbing the disc in a quick motion. He darted back immediately with his prize, eyes wide as he prepared for a trap to spring; nothing happened.

The group turned to leave. As they stepped forward, a curious rumbling could be heard behind them. Meta Knight whirled around first, blade drawn; he knew such a powerful artifact would not be left unguarded. What he did not expect, however, was the threat to rise from the very earth underneath his feet. A collection of large, broad rocks, each one identical in size and shape, rose shuddering from the ground around them. One by one, each rock opened its tiny black eyes. They lifted themselves, debris running off of their hard, stone bodies, before lurching forward towards the group.

"Rockies!" Sword exclaimed from behind the group.

Meta Knight looked back and forth rapidly, his sword beginning to glow as it sensed its wielder's intent.

"We can't escape, it would take too long to climb up that passage." He stated grimly. He squared his feet, lifting his sword with one hand while holding the torch with the other. "We have to fight."

Kirby and Shieldmaiden joined him, ready. Blade escaped Sword's grasp and began to limp forward while withdrawing his own weapon before Sword grabbed him back roughly, glaring at his friend.

"Don't get involved! You're too hurt to fight." Sword commanded. He then took his friend by the arm and handed him to Fumu and Bun, the two supporting the wounded soldier by each arm, before withdrawing his own blade.

"Keep him safe." Sword said with a quick glance at the two children, before dashing off to join the Star Warriors on the front lines.

Blade cursed and lurched forward, held back by Fumu and Bun. "No! I can't just stand there while they...there must be something I can...Kirby!" He cried.

Blade withdrew his sword and carefully held it blade first, the hilt aimed at Kirby. Kirby turned around upon hearing his name. He saw what Blade was about to do and nodded, planting his feet and opening his mouth wide. With as careful aim as he could manage, Blade threw his sword dead center at Kirby. Shieldmaiden and Meta Knight each jumped back slightly, but there was no need; Kirby's powerful inhale altered the path of the flying weapon and guided it directly into his mouth. In a flash, the sword appeared in his hand; a little green hat materialized on his head.

Meta Knight's eyes flashed green. "Sword Kirby."

Sword Kirby turned back around to face the Rockies, whose slow yet persistent march had not stopped since they had first risen from the ground. Without a word he charged forward, sword held high. He jumped in the air, falling into a controlled spin with the accuracy of a gymnast, and slashed into one of the Rockies.

The Rocky paused, shuddering. A small chunk of its rock fell off. It then opened both of its eyes, seemingly unphased. With sudden force it threw itself forward at Kirby in response, using its hard and heavy body as a weapon.

Kirby cried out in response, being flung several feet backwards. His hat flew off, sword clattering a few feet away from him. Meta Knight's eyes dimmed as his eyes darted from the advancing Rockies to the fallen Kirby. He then swung his arm in the air forcefully, emitting a powerful sword beam from Galaxia. The crescent-shaped energy beam flew forward, digging a small furrow into the ground, before it hit a Rocky. The Rocky slowed, paused, and continued advancing forward with only a crack on its face. Meta Knight lowered his sword shortly, taken aback.

"Slashing will do no good. They need to be bashed!" Shieldmaiden shouted. "I'll get them away from Kirby."

Shieldmaiden leaped in front of Kirby and beat her armored chest several times, shouting out to the hoard of Rockies. "Come at me, you cowards!" She slashed her spear threateningly in the air and pointed at each one, emitting a loud war cry. One by one, the Rockies' attention diverted from Kirby and onto Shieldmaiden.

Meta Knight watched, fascinated. He was glad that they had a warrior trained in front line combat and defense, who was able to taunt them away from Kirby or the rest of the group. However, even the most defensive warriors in the galaxy couldn't stand up to an entire horde of enraged Rockies. The golem-like beings were not only tough as nails, but hit very hard by using their own bodies as battering rams. They could even jump in the air and fall on her, crushing her wings and body. His eyes darted back and forth frantically, trying to figure out how to take advantage of her temporary diversion.

Kirby meanwhile, began to rise. He looked up with his head moving in slow, erratic circles, clearly dazed. With the sword knocked away, he no longer had access to its power. Meta Knight's eyes flashed as he saw something; a sizable chunk of the Rocky Kirby slashed was left behind. He pointed to the rock.

"Kirby, slashing attacks are no good. Inhale that instead!"

Kirby obeyed, opening his mouth and quickly inhaling the small rock. The rock was special, not like the rocks they were surrounded by in the cave; since it fell off of a Rocky, it contained its essence. Within seconds Kirby's skin faded from its usual pink to a dark, tanned color. He was now Stone Kirby.

Stone Kirby whirled around to face the hoard of Rockies, who had gathered around Shieldmaiden. Shieldmaiden attacked the group, keeping them at bay with her spear while bashing them with her shield. However, there were far too many; she was being overwhelmed, dealt blow after blow by the creatures as they mobbed her. She held up her shield to deflect one as another smashed into her, denting her armor hard enough to push into her body. She grunted and stepped back, wings flared and pressed forward as her back slid against a wall. Kirby then ran into the melee, jumping as high as he could before curling up his body and morphing into a large rock in midair. The rock spun in midair as it slammed into one of the Rockies, blasting it to pieces.

The other Rockies took notice and began to focus on Kirby instead. Kirby transformed back, darted off, and continued to hurl himself at the Rockies. Shieldmaiden continued to bash them with her shield, her buckler doing far more damage being used as a battering ram than her spear would against the living rock. Meta Knight hurled sword beams at them from Galaxia while Sword followed Meta Knight's lead, firing sword beams of his own.

The Rockies began to crumble under the assault, Shieldmaiden, Sword, and Meta Knight doing minor damage as Kirby smashed their weakened bodies to pieces. One by one, the Rockies fell and crumbled to pieces. Eventually the last Rocky fell, exploding in a cloud of pebbles and dust as Kirby rammed into it.

The four warriors stopped at once, stepping back. Shieldmaiden lowered her shield with a sigh, while Meta Knight sheathed Galaxia. Kirby's skin began to fade back to pink. They turned around and began to walk back where they came from, the first piece of the relic safe in their hand. Meta Knight scooped up Blade's discarded sword on the ground walked forward with a hurried stride to catch up to Fumu, Bun, and Blade, handing Blade's sword back to him. He then put his torch out, grinding the flaming tip into the earth beneath him. At least with the relic in their possession, they had a constant source of light.

The seven made their way back to the pit, looking upwards. They knew that they'd have to travel back up again, but it would be more difficult; they were exhausted and Blade's leg was sprained, affecting his ability to climb. Meta Knight steeled himself; he needed to carry Fumu back up without losing energy or running into anything or they could both be killed.

Shieldmaiden spoke up as they stood at the bottom of the pit. "Let's take a short rest...the coast is clear, after all. It would be more dangerous to over exert ourselves and fall back down here than to make sure we can handle this."

The others looked around at each other, silently nodding. Kirby looked like the only one fresh enough to make the journey again, and seemed genuinely confused by how weary everyone else looked. One by one the tired group sat down in a circle, gathering their strength for the last leg of their journey through the cave.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The seven tired spelunkers gave themselves a few precious minutes to rest. Fumu and Bun looked up at the long tunnel which they were carried down, feeling even more nervous about their return trip. Fumu knew that Meta Knight would do everything he could to protect her, but he had been through a lot in a few hours, and the fact that he could even carry a creature as (comparatively) heavy to him as her safely down the pit was almost superhuman. How much more could he take? She just pictured him running out of energy from having to carry her upwards, his wings disappearing back into a cape as they both fell. Bun, who was usually talkative, stayed strangely silent. Though he didn't share his thoughts with his sister, he was thinking the same thing.

Sword and Blade sat together, Blade attempting to rotate his foot every few minutes only to grunt in pain and hold still. Sword said nothing, his emotionless helmet hiding a facial expression of despair - he had no idea how Blade was going to be able to climb back up safely.

"Guys", Sword said in a low voice, voicing his concern. "I don't think Blade can do this."

"No way. I'm fine" Blade blustered. Sword gave him a look.

Meta Knight's eyes dimmed as he looked at his wounded friend. Though he had remained silent, the same thoughts had troubled him.

"Poyo!" A high-pitched voice cried.

Everyone looked to Kirby. He patted himself on the chest several times to indicate he was speaking about himself, before gesturing to Blade.

"Poyo poy, Poyoyo! Poy poyo poy."

The others exchanged quizzical glances. Fumu, who was used to playing a game of makeshift charades whenever having to "translate" Kirby, rubbed her chin with a thoughtful frown.

"Guys..." she said, eyes widening as Kirby walked over to stand beside Blade. "I think what he's trying to say is he'll help Blade out in the climb."

"You will? That's awesome Kirby, thanks!" Sword said, clearly relieved at the sight of a solution.

"Thanks Kirby, but I can handle it..." Blade began.

Meta Knight's eyes suddenly lit up, glowing brightly from the darkness of his mask and gaining a slight orange tint.

"Swallow your pride", he growled.

Blade turned his head silently. He offered no resistance as Sword and Kirby helped him to his feet. There were few things Blade didn't like more than being helpless, but he knew that climbing up the vertical rock face with a wounded leg would be nearly impossible. With Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden carrying the children, and Sword having enough trouble climbing up himself, he thought that he would have to do the best he could and if the worst case scenario occurred, so be it. He smiled behind his helmet, feeling both humbled and proud of his friends for being there for him even when Blade wouldn't be there for himself.

The time had come for the group to ascend. Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden grabbed their young charges and crouched, ready for flight. Meta Knight's heart sank as he gripped Fumu from behind; he could sense her fear. He hated seeing her so upset, though she had every reason to be considering the circumstances. In a rare display of comforting behavior he lifted one arm to gently pat her shoulder several times. Fumu's eyes widened at the gesture. Meta Knight was probably both the coldest and least 'touchy' person she'd ever met; for him to extend such a warm platonic gesture to her was shocking. She wondered as his wings materialized if he was simply trying to comfort her, or if he reached out for comfort of his own because he was secretly as scared of what they were doing as she was.

Bun held the relic in his hands, the light so bright that it illuminated the area far better than the glowing mushrooms did. To the fliers, who were directly underneath it, the light was almost too much. With several strained flaps of her wings Shieldmaiden lifted Bun upwards, holding him in her arms. The two ascended first, Bun holding the light out with arms extended so everyone could see, while Meta Knight and Fumu flew underneath them.

Shieldmaiden's wing muscles started screaming almost immediately after takeoff; instead of going with gravity as she did during her descent, she was now fighting against it with a heavy weight in her hands. Her battle with the Rockies had sapped her strength further. She breathed deeply through her armor, pushing her body as her quivering wings flapped through the air with stroke after agonizing stroke. Bun's own heart was pounding wildly. He could feel Shieldmaiden's arms quake slightly with each flap of her wings and could easily hear her labored breathing through her helmet. Thoughts of the two falling backwards into the darkness haunted him.

"Please don't drop me, please don't drop me..." Bun begged silently.

Meta knight was not faring much better. He controlled his flight, the motion painless even when he was tired since the wings were a part of his cape and were not biologically tied to him. However, he still needed to rely on his own energy to power the wings and that energy had been sapped from all he had done. He held onto the single thought that he could not lose his wings, that doing so would probably kill Fumu if not both of them. He powered through his fading strength by sheer force of will, struggling to stay focused as well as keep himself and Fumu from scraping on the sides of the pit as he flew upwards.

Meanwhile, the other three climbed their way up. Sword climbed normally, tired as well but determined to get the grueling activity over with. He had made a promise to himself long ago; that he was to either die in battle or of old age. Falling into a crevasse was not on that list. Panting heavily through his helmet, he pressed on.

Blade climbed slowly, coordinating his movements with Kirby who held onto him with one arm while climbing upwards with the other. Despite having no fingers Kirby was an incredible climber, his hands and feet both finding every little handhold needed to press forward. Had he not been assisting Blade, he could've easily outpaced them both. With his aid, Blade was able to climb upwards with his arm and good foot while letting the injured junction of body and foot dangle freely.

In time, the two fliers landed and safely deposited Fumu and Bun. The two children rolled on the ground as their guardians roughly dropped them, too winded to set them down gently. Meta Knight's wings immediately turned back into a cape the second the two were over solid ground, the Star Warrior landing roughly next to Fumu. He lifted his body up from the ground by his arms and remained there for a moment, overwhelmed and breathing heavily. Shieldmaiden watched Bun tumble onto the ground and stood for a few seconds, swaying, before she dashed off to a nearby corner and lowered her breastplate to throw up.

The three turned to watch her, Meta Knight's hidden brow furrowed in concern. "Are you okay?" He asked, his own voice still soft from exertion.

"Oh man, gross." Bun commented.

Shieldmaiden stopped, wings lifted around her and mantled to conceal herself as much as possible with her face burning from embarrassment. She hadn't gotten sick from exertion since one of her earliest training drills back when she first joined the Galaxy Soldier Army years ago. She wiped off her face and slipped her breastplate back up, concealing all but her eyes behind armor, and turned to face them sheepishly.

"Fine, thanks" Shieldmaiden said in a voice overly cheery to hide her weakness. "You know how it is...just like when you work out really hard!"

Fumu dipped her head to her and Meta Knight. "Thanks for getting us down there and back in one piece, guys. It couldnt've been easy."

Both Star Warriors silently nodded in response, trying to appear as composed as possible even though they were both on the brink of collapse.

Minutes later, they saw a hand wave at them from the edge of the pit. "Hey!"

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden hopped off the edge with their wings spread, helping the exhausted Sword onto the ledge. Moments later, they did the same to assist Blade and Kirby.

"We made it!" Sword cried.

"I never want to see a cliff again" Blade groaned, Fumu and Bun nodding vigorously in agreement.

Kirby smiled, looking out at his friends. He was the only member of the group who didn't look weary. The group took a few minutes to catch their breath before leaving the cave, exiting the way they came.

As they neared the cave entrance, a dull yet familiar roar hit their ears. They looked outside at the cave's open doorway entrance, the same way they had come in, to see streaks of gray liquid pouring down.

"Rain! Water!" Bun cried, pumping his fist.

Kirby and the children found the energy to run towards the entrance, eager to feel water on their face and to finally have another drink. The adults walked behind them in a hurried pace. Fumu spread her arms as she walked out of the cave entrance, the cold water feeling even better than it did before. They all drank their fill and scrubbed their dirty faces in the refreshing rainfall for a few minutes before ducking back into the cave's entrance.

Meta Knight looked out into the jungle, noting that even through the rainfall it was getting dark. He turned to face the group.

"We might as well camp here for the night. The cave will protect us from rain and make us less obvious to jungle predators."

Sword nodded. "We can get the second relic first thing in the morning."

'We need food sooner then that, though" Bun said, grimacing and rubbing his stomach. Though no one said anything in response, they all exchanged glances with each other in silent acknowledgement of Bun's words. The group had not eaten all day.

Meta Knight nodded before turning with feet squared, preparing to fly out of the small pit the cave's entrance laid within. However, no matter how much he focused, his cape remained a cape. It raised upwards and billowed out around him momentarily, as if stirred by an invisible breeze, before hanging limply off of Meta Knight's back as if nothing happened. Meta Knight straightened back up and blushed behind his mask, turning away from the group. Shieldmaiden stifled a chuckle, his failed attempt at flight causing her to feel a bit less embarrassed about her losing it earlier. They were all exhausted, and it was starting to show.

"Poyoo..." Kirby said in a low voice, rubbing his stomach. Considering how much he could put away, Fumu couldn't imagine how hungry the small creature felt. He walked forward through the silver veil of rain, climbing out of the pit himself.

Fumu watched him go nervously. "Kirby, where are you going?"

"Poyo poy!" Kirby responded, patting his stomach. He then darted off into the jungle, quickly disappearing into the thick greenery.

Fumu looked to the group, putting a hand behind her neck. "I'm pretty sure he's going to get some food."

Kirby dashed through the trees, flattening and stretching his flexible body to maneuver through the bushes that Sword and Blade would have needed to cut through to pass. He knew that his friends needed help with gathering food, and he himself was getting very hungry - that dangerous level of hungry, where nothing vaguely food-shaped was safe in his presence. The rain slowed as he hunted, deep blue eyes scanning the world around him with the eye of an experienced gourmand in search of anything he and the others could eat.

The first thing Kirby found was a coconut tree; unable to wait, he quickly scrambled up the tree and inhaled the hard drupes one by one while perched on top of the leaves next to them. He then slid down the branch-less tree trunk and fell softly into the grass, rubbing his stomach. Three coconuts to Kirby was like a single hors-d'oeuvre for most people, and he was nowhere near satiated. However, he could now find food for the others without the urge to down all of the food himself overwhelming him. His thoughts again flashed to the times he lost control at the melon fields, and Fumu's stern face as she scolded him. He then thought of what he had just seen back by the cave, his friends holding their stomachs and even Meta Knight being too weak to fly. This was his chance to make it up to them, both proving his self-control and helping out his friends who were always so nice as to feed him back in Dreamland. He smiled, hopping back into the underbrush.

An hour later, the group sat by the entrance to the cave. Fumu paced outside of the entrance, brow furrowed in worry; she knew that Kirby could handle himself quite well for his age, but the thought of him being alone in such a harsh environment still bothered her. The others all reclined in various positions on the ground, finally able to rest after having worked so hard climbing and battling in the cave. In the dusky light, a round dark silhouette suddenly popped up over the lip of the pit and hopped downwards to join them.

"Kirby!" The group cried, gathering around him. Kirby proudly displayed his gatherings; towering above him, held above his head, were mangoes, bananas, a coconut, and a batch of nuts. The others cheered in delight as he set his findings down.

"Kirby, you're amazing! Thank you!" Shieldmaiden cried, giving him a pat on the back.

"The food here is amazing...fresher than the farmer's market!" Bun said as he bit into an enormous mango.

Meta Knight said nothing, but he looked at Kirby and gave him a stern nod with eyes glowing blue from pride. He couldn't fathom the amount of restraint the little Star Warrior must have needed to bring back so much food when they were all nearly starving. He then slashed at the coconut with Galaxia, holding it out to the others so that they could all share the drink inside.

Blade was about to bite into a banana when he suddenly heard a noise. The sun hung so low in the sky that a thin line of pink, barely visible through the trees,was all they had to see with besides their glowing relic. The noise sounded almost as if someone had stepped forward, yet he saw nothing. He held his head still and lifted, straining to hear if there were any other suspicious noises over the din of the group, before he relaxed and resumed eating.

Several minutes later, the noise was heard again. Meta Knight, who was still holding the half-empty coconut, passed the food to Fumu. He then slowly turned, withdrawing his sword. He paused, looking out into the darkness as a silent hush fell on the group. Blade met Meta Knight's gaze and held it for a moment; he heard it, too. No one moved for a full minute. In time, Meta Knight relaxed. He sheathed his sword and walked over to pick up a banana, eyes still focused on the site where the sound came from.

No other disturbances hit the group, and they enjoyed the rest of their meal in peace. It was not long afterward that they were curled up by the cave's entrance, ready to sleep.

"We need to establish a guard." Meta Knight said, noticing the other warriors beginning to yawn and get comfortable. With a powerful piece of the relic in their possession, they were even more vulnerable than the night before. Meta Knight walked over to a branch and broke it up into sticks, making sure that several were smaller. He then had Bun hold the sticks, with all of them appearing to be equal height.

His eyes scanned the crowd. "This will be between Sword, Blade, Shieldmaiden and I. The rest of you can go to bed."

Meta Knight's eyes fell on the four sticks. "Short stick gets the first shift."

One by one, the four warriors withdrew a stick. Blade lifted a hidden brow as he noticed his stick was one third shorter than the others. He shrugged and gave a weak laugh.

"Guess I'm up first."

Shieldmaiden withdrew the second smallest stick, followed by Sword and Meta Knight last. Blade stationed himself at the edge of the cave as a guard while the three other warriors all went to bed in a spread out circle around the children.

Fumu looked up through bleary eyes at the cave's ceiling, already falling into unconsciousness. One last thought passed through her mind before she closed her eyes for the night.

'The bats haven't come back yet...'

Far into the night, everyone was sound asleep. Blade and Kirby seemed to be competing for who could out snore each other, while Meta Knight laid quietly in a corner nestled in his own cape. Shieldmaiden slept nearby, face up and on her belly so as not to lay on her wings. Bun slept close to Kirby as he did the night before, while Fumu used the extra space the cave's entrance offered her to sleep farther away from the group.

Sword stood at the edge of the cave where Blade once was, as it was his turn in their guard shift. His eyes kept closing behind the mask, but he shook himself awake. Not only did the group have to worry about possible predation from the jungle's inhabitants, they also now had a part of the relic in their possession. Whoever hid the piece in the first place could want it back. The previously heard sound happened again, the softest rustle in the bushes. Sword was startled out of his daze by it and looked over; he saw nothing. He looked at the relic, its bright glow growing more and more obnoxious to him despite it probably being the one thing keeping him awake at his post.

Unbeknownst to Sword, a tiny black ball was beginning to float towards him. The strange ball gave off dark purple wisps of smoke as it moved, the trail lifting in the air in a light smoke before dissipating into the night air. The small, smoky black creature had one single, amber-colored eye fixed in its center like a cyclops. It paused for a moment and closed its single eye, unmoving, before it suddenly slipped into a large round bug that had been laying concealed in the leaves nearby. The bug twitched and flailed its legs as if it were sprayed by a bug killer before its body changed, growing black and becoming consumed by strange, purple wisps. The mutated creature then slowly rose on six, spindly legs. The once ordinary bug was now a Mariel. The small black spider-like creature, looking like a large Daddy Longlegs, opened two tiny white pinpoint eyes and began to crawl towards Sword. Sword was half asleep and keeping an eye on the bushes beyond the pit at the edge of his line of vision, paying little attention to the ground right next to him. The spider-like being crawled closer and closer before it nearly rested on Sword's foot. It then quickly darted past his foot and up his side, delivering a bite in between his armor.

"F-oww" Sword said in a hoarse whisper, shooting up in the air before doing an awkward dance to pat the biting bug away. The Mariel fell off of him and crawled back into its leafy shelter.

Satisfied that the bug had been dealt with, Sword resumed his guard. However, he felt increasingly strange as time wore on. He began to feel a bit woozy, his mind drifting off more and more. He figured it was his brain coaxing him to sleep, even though he was determined to stay awake at his post for the sake of his friends. The feeling began to well up more and more inside of him, gently teasing at the edge of his mind; pleasant, dream-like feelings lingered, waiting for him to just give in and close his eyes.

Sword realized that he was being hit by this wave of "exhaustion" really hard and shook his head violently, eyes popping open. The feeling inside of him continued to grow, suddenly feeling less like sleepiness and more like an overwhelming force taking over his body like a heavy drug. His vision blurred slightly, brain beginning to feel foggy and distant. Sword began to panic; he noticed the change in his body, and wondered if the bug that bit him was poisonous. He began to try and retain his focus, but the strange drug-like feeling inside of him kept growing stronger and more prevalent. In a sudden jolt, the strange force consumed his mind so rapidly that Sword's body went into an involuntary spasm. All at once his world spun around him wildly before dimming out, his instinctive cry for help coming out as a muted, choked sputter. Sword's head went limp for a moment. Slowly, it rose again. A stray wisp of purple smoke emanated from the breathing holes in the front of his helmet. His hidden eyes, now a deep purple, scanned the group before resting on the relic.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Dark Matter looked out through Sword's concealed eyes, glancing at the relic. Inside of his mind, Dark Matter was already sifting through his memories. Sword could only watch in a tiny corner of his mind as his own memories played out in front of him, his most personal information laid bare. Dark Matter rifled through his most recent memories, attempting to find out the purpose of the group traveling to an isolated jungle and if the odd golden half disc in their possession held any significance. Within minutes, it knew everything; the relic, their mission, and their next step.

Dark Matter paused, thinking. It was only a tiny piece of Dark Matter, a "scout" far away from its nucleus, and it had zero access to its power or to the main body. The best it could do was possess a single person. It would have to make due with what was available. It needed to kill the party and force them to stop looking for the relic before they could fuse it together and unleash its true power.

Dark Matter sat there in Sword's taken body, staring at the relic silently. It was outnumbered four to one, not counting the two children. It couldn't just attack mindlessly, or it would be outed and rendered helpless. It would have to take out the party members one by one, perhaps switching from one host to another after a successful kill. It wasn't worried about Fumu and Bun, as they were neither a threat nor a suitable host. Worthless.

"Sword." A deep voice said, coming from behind him.

Slowly, Sword's body turned around in response. His hidden eyes rested on Meta Knight, who stood just outside the reach of the relic's light.

"It's my turn" he said in an amiable tone. "You may rest now."

Dark Matter, through Sword's memories, realized that he was staring at one of the most threatening warriors of the group. If he were to attack Meta Knight in this host, even with the element of surprise, he would almost certainly lose. Dark Matter then processed what Meta Knight said, using Sword's most recent recollection of that very night to understand what he was referring to.

Sword's body gave a silent nod after a few seconds, turning and walking over to rest by the other warriors. Meta Knight watched him go, hidden brow raised. There was something...off about him. Meta Knight then stifled a yawn under his mask, casting his thoughts aside. He did just bother Sword at some ungodly hour in the morning, after Sword stood awake for hours, after all of them had an incredibly tiring day. Of course there was something "off" about Sword. Being exhausted, deprived of adequate amounts of water, and forced to press on through dangerous conditions without any equipment would make anyone act "off".

Meta Knight turned to watch his fellow warrior settle in with the others one last time before shaking his head, wrapped up in his cape as he settled into his post.

Sword laid in place but did not sleep, though he could sense from his complete control of the body that it needed to rest badly. Dark Matter ignored the brain's cries for sleep. This host was short term, destined to die one way or another. There was no need for maintenance; the body's natural needs were irrelevant. Instead Dark Matter forced the body to stay awake, using Sword's knowledge to help it devise a plan.

The sun rose over the jungle, the sounds of exotic birds and other animals echoing through the trees. The sun began to lighten the sky, sunbeams filtering through the thick foliage. Meta Knight threw his cape aside to stretch briefly, standing on his tiptoes and raising his arms as high as his spaulders would allow. He was still tired, having stayed awake and stood vigil ever since Sword retired to bed, but what little rest he received would have to do.

The stoic knight dipped inside of the cave entrance, where the others slept, and woke them one by one. He woke everyone up without trouble before turning his attention to Kirby. No matter what he did - calling his name, nudging him gently - Kirby would not move. Meta Knight's eyes began to redden. He slowly unsheathed Galaxia, raised it above his head with his right arm decisively, and stabbed.

"POYAAH!" Kirby cried, the clang of the sword stabbing into the hard ground an inch away from him startling him awake. His eyes opened to see his wavy reflection on the gleaming golden sword an inch away from him as he flailed on the ground. Fumu put a hand to her mouth, heart pounding nearly as hard as Kirby's; she knew that Meta Knight would never stab anyone in their sleep, even his most bitter enemies, as it was against his code of honor. Still, Galaxia landed frighteningly close to Kirby...

Kirby looked up to see Meta Knight, red eyes dimming back into a neutral yellow after his frustrating goal was accomplished.

"Good morning", he said flatly.

Kirby rolled into a sitting position with a frown, rubbing a sleepy eye with one hand and putting a hand to his still hammering heart with another. Blade snickered and nudged Sword with his elbow, speaking in a voice too low for others to overhear.

"Did you see that? Haha, poor Kirby. It's kind of like that one morning when you didn't get up in time for the Galaxy Soldier Army's boot camp, eh? You wouldn't wake up for anything, so the commander stood an inch away from you and hit a mace against a brass shield. You hit the ceiling!"

Sword said nothing, nodding in a slow, robotic manner as if he had just heard something somber. Blade noticed the very un-Swordlike reaction from his friend and tilted his helmed head sideways. Maybe his good-natured ribbing was too much for Sword, although his friend usually had very thick skin.

"Uhh...are you ok?"

Again, Sword nodded in the same stilted and awkward manner. Blade frowned. The only thing weirder than Sword not finding the situation as funny as he did was Sword not having anything to say when asked if he was okay. That was not like him. Sword would either bluster and pretend that he was, or break down and admit that he wasn't, but he would never just nod like that.

"Bull. What's the matter?" Blade said, briefly patting his friend on the back.

Dark Matter was unable to talk after possessing most species. Though it could understand what was spoken to it through its host's brain, the ability to form an idea, process it into language, and speak it in the correct tongue of an alien species was very difficult even with its amount of control over the body. It knew it had to at least try to say something. Frantically, it grilled Sword's brain to try and find a way to communicate.

Sword held his hand against his throat and cleared it.

Blade rubbed the back of his own neck. "Your throat? Oh man, don't tell me. All of that running around in the rain got you sick?"

Sword's head nodded. Dark Matter knew it had to at least attempt say something to sell it, so it ran through Sword's vocabulary like one would a thesaurus. It soon found the word, and utilized Sword's memories to make sure it was appropriate in the context.

"Sick" Sword's mouth uttered in a strange, garbled half-whisper.

Blade cringed, taken aback. "Holy Stars, you sound awful! Don't worry, you won't have to do much talking. Hopefully we can find the other half of this thing, go back home to Dreamland, and get some rest. It'll all be over soon."

Sword nodded again. Little did Blade know, it would be.

The group took a few minutes to get ready for the day, sharing what few scraps of food they had from the day before as breakfast. Shieldmaiden looked at her relic sensor, turning the volume on and glancing at the screen. A steady, rapid beep could be heard. The second piece of the relic was close. Shieldmaiden touched the screen to enlarge it, cyan eyes narrowing as she read the details.

"Hey, guys...this next piece is really close. Only a few miles east of here."

"Good" Bun said, eating a bit of leftover mango. "Then we can get it and get out of here!"

The others nodded and murmured in agreement. All had grown weary by this point, missing their safe, quiet homes with regular meals and plumbing more with each passing hour. The group gathered what little they had, Meta Knight taking possession of the first half of the relic and hiding it within his cape, and set out into the jungle. Sword helped Blade as he did before, allowing the still wounded warrior to use Sword's body as a living crutch as the two headed out behind everyone else.

Sword noted that Blade was weakened. He was already slowed by his leg injury. He wouldn't be able to fight back well, if at all, and he certainly couldn't run away...

The seven charged forth into the jungle, Meta Knight in the lead and cutting the foliage away for the party as Sword and Blade had done so before. He was informed about how ill Sword was, and he knew that Blade shouldn't be in front of the party with his injury, so he chose to cut the jungle underbrush for them. With only one person doing the work instead of two, their progress was even slower.

Several hours into the journey, Shieldmaiden's voice rose above the din of screeching birds and animals. "We're getting really close!" She said joyfully. "It should only be a few hundred feet away!"

"Excellent" Meta Knight replied, redoubling his efforts hacking away at the jungle. Kirby and the two children, having more energy than the adults even after all they had endured, increased their pace until they were nearly ahead of Meta Knight. Sword and Blade, meanwhile, continued to fall farther and farther behind.

Blade looked up as the figures in front of him began to appear farther off, disappearing into the thick green jungle. He felt nervous about losing them, but he already felt terrible about imposing on Sword to be helped along with his injury, moreso now that his old friend was sick. He looked to Sword, anxious expression concealed behind his helmet.

Sword's body slowed more and more until the two stopped. He paused briefly, using sound to tell how far away the rest of the party was. Blade tapped his good foot impatiently, unable to keep his anxiety hidden any longer.

"Hey buddy", Blade said. "I know you're not feeling good but we need to catch up with them. We could get lost out here."

Sword said nothing. His hand slowly went lower.

"...Sword?" Blade said loudly.

In one quick, fluid movement Sword withdrew his weapon and turned to stab Blade. Blade had a fraction of a second to react, the attack too sudden and unexpected. Blade screamed as Sword moved away from him, falling limply to the ground. Dark red blood spilled forward, soaking into the mud and leaves around him.

Fumu looked up, hearing a distant scream echoing behind them. "Blade!" She cried. Everyone else looked up a beat behind her. Meta Knight turned and charged in front of the group, Kirby already ahead of the party as he was the first to respond.

Sword stood over Blade's body, the warrior letting out another choked scream as blood gushed from his wound. Blade stood up, using his one good arm to swing himself to his feet, but Sword swiftly kicked him back down. The possessed warrior then rose his weapon, preparing to stab the fallen Blade through the chest and end it.

"Poyo!" Kirby cried. Both warriors looked up abruptly. Kirby stood in the narrow pathway, staring angrily at the situation. Meta Knight arrived second, behind him. The sight of Sword towering over his own friend, blood dripping off of his sword, was so shocking to Meta Knight that he nearly dropped Galaxia in response. Sword slowly turned to face them, silent. Thin wisps of purple escaped the holes in his helmet, floating upwards.

Fumu gasped, mouth agape. Her hands clenched into fists, shaking. "How...how could you?"

Sword said nothing, raising his weapon.

Shieldmaiden's eyes went white with shock behind her helmet. "I think...he must be possessed!"

Bun tore his gaze away from the scene to face her. "What?! All the way out here? How?"

Meta Knight said nothing. He advanced closer in careful, creeping steps before charging forward. Sword watched him and dodged. At the same time Kirby ran forward as well, jumping into the air and delivering a kick square in Sword's face. Sword's helmet got knocked off center slightly, the warrior falling backwards. The purple wisps then began to flow out of Sword's helmet more and more until they looked like plumes of chimney smoke. A single blood-tinged eye, a red-ringed amber iris surrounding a tiny black pupil, opened in the center of the opening of Sword's helmet that he used to see. His sword began to swirl with dancing purple wisps of smoke, the same that oozed from his body. Sword's feet no longer touched the jungle floor, being lifted slightly from the air until he hovered in a state of levitation.

Blade watched from the ground, his vision beginning to narrow into a hazy tunnel. Despite his predicament, his shock and adrenaline slowly giving way to incredible pain, he managed a relieved smile.

"It...wasn't...you..." he managed to say.

Sword lifted his weapon high, blade so dark from Dark Matter's ethereal energy that it appeared to draw in all light around it, and thrust his arm forward. A massive sword beam flew outwards, purple and smoky as the energy combined Sword's fighting expertise and Dark Matter's essence. The group managed to narrowly dodge the sword beam, the crescent-shaped beam flying past them and down the narrow path they had been walking on. Meta Knight managed to stop thinking about Sword directly and looked to Fumu and Bun. Their path was narrow; they were in great danger.

"Fumu! Bun! Run as far ahead as you can! Get lost in the trees! Hurry!" Meta Knight cried, raising Galaxia to fire off a sword beam in response.

Fumu and Bun, both wanting to intervene and save Blade but being blocked by the narrow pathway, realized that they had no choice but to flee. Fumu looked at Blade lying on the ground, twitching in a puddle of his own blood. She wanted to save him, and felt that by running away it was abandonment, but they couldn't get to him with Sword in the way. They had to at least save themselves. Fumu grabbed Bun's hand and, half-dragging her equally reluctant brother, pushed the thick jungle bushes on the side of the path with their own hand and made their way into the tangled mess of foliage.

Seeing that his line of attack was clear, Meta Knight then fired off a sword beam of his own. Fueled by Galaxia's legendary power and its owner's rage, the beam flew through the air and melted any stray branches in its way like butter. The beam hit Sword directly, causing his body to get knocked backwards.

"We have to keep hitting him!" Shieldmaiden cried. She charged forward after Meta Knight's sword beam hit, catching Sword in the face with a shield bash. Sword shook his head, dazed, before bringing his blade up to stab Shieldmaiden in between the eyes. Shieldmaiden blocked the blow with her shield. She then remembered her training session with Meta Knight, and how important it was to watch her range. She used her wings to power a leap backwards, thrusting her spear forward to force Sword to remain at a distance. Kirby then closed in from behind him and punched him in his spine.

Sword's battered body lurched forward, clearly being overwhelmed. He shot another sword beam outwards. Shieldmaiden stepped in front of Meta Knight with her shield out, wings folded tightly against her. The blow hit her, causing her to grunt and get blasted back a few feet as her sabatons dug a furrow into the leafy ground. She then continued to close in on him, spear raised and ready.

Sword suddenly began to vibrate. He dropped his weapon, the dark smoke dissipating off of it. His head thrown back, Sword suddenly emitted a deep sigh not unlike a death rattle as Dark Matter vacated his body through the front portion of his helmet. Sword fell over limply, unconscious.

The two Star Warriors each waved their weapons at the ball of Dark Matter, which flew around them in circles. It then suddenly paused and dove for Kirby. The smoking orb shot forward in the blink of an eye, seeping into Kirby's mouth.

Shieldmaiden cried out "No!" But Meta Knight remained silent. He lowered his sword slightly.

"Bad move", he said to Kirby.

Shieldmaiden shook her head incredulously. She had already witnessed Kirby's power back at the cave; with Dark Matter controlling them, they were all dead. How could Meta Knight be so calm?

She looked to Meta Knight, eyes wide. "What?!"

Meta Knight looked at her, appearing calm. He held his sword out in a defensive position.

"Kirby is too pure to be possessed. Dark Matter will not win."

Kirby felt a presence seep into his mind. It twisted his thoughts, tugging them towards a void. Kirby felt a panic deep inside of him, a growing feeling of a loss of control. The presence felt as if it were trying to grow, a black seed planted in the depths of his thoughts.

Kirby held his head in his hands and muttered a soft, high pitched "Poyyooooyyiii" as he shook his head, trying to fight it off.

"Fight it, Kirby!" Meta Knight urged the young, suffering boy.

Kirby closed his eyes, arms hanging limp at his sides. He felt himself reach within himself, his own inner force growing as it struggled to fight against Dark Matter's intrusion. He could feel a small, dark spot in his brain that was settling its roots in and trying to grow. Rip out the seed. Get rid of it. He pictured himself as if he were in a dream, fighting Dark Matter in his own mind. He felt his inner strength grow as he pictured his friends urging him on. Kirby was generally passive in nature, but thought of Dark Matter hurting him or his friends brought out his full strength in force. Dark Matter clutched at his mind, invisible tendrils seeping deep into his brain. It tried to start to suck away his memories; Kirby pictured himself blocking it, forming a giant wall. He began to muscle through, picturing his wall turning into a battering ram as he focused every single ounce of his power inwardly.

The two armored Star Warriors watched anxiously as Kirby swayed. Kirby's body then suddenly fell backward and twitched, almost as if he were having a convulsion, before a black mist suddenly seeped out of Kirby's mouth. Kirby's back arched as the black essence slipped out of his body before he fell limply. Dark Matter's essence grew smaller and smaller as it exited Kirby before it dissipated into thin air, disappearing as if it were smoke.

"Kirby!" Shieldmaiden cried, running over to the small creature. Meta Knight, sheathing his weapon, ran over to Blade at the same time. Using the tip of his cape, as the only available cloth on hand, he pressed it to Blade's wound to slow the bleeding.

Blade looked up, head rolling on the ground slowly. "Thanks, Sir" he said.

Meta Knight's eyes glowed green as he was consumed with dark thoughts, watching his dark cape turn dark red. He knew Blade's wound couldn't have been that serious, or he would've bled out or at least gone unconscious by then. He also appeared to still be breathing, meaning it missed his lungs. Still, they were in the middle of the jungle and could only administer the most basic of first aid. Even if Sword only managed to land a glancing blow, an infection from the hostile environment around him could finish Blade off. They needed to get him back to Dreamland and get Dark Matter out of the way, fast.

Kirby sat up, rubbing his head. "Poy-" he began, before looking around at the scene around him. Sword laid on the ground, unconscious, and Blade was bleeding profusely from a wound. Fumu and Bun were nowhere to be seen.

"Poyoyo-poi!" Kirby cried, looking down at Blade. He eyed the wound over Meta Knight's shoulder for a second, before dashing off to look at Sword. With a quick glance, he could see that Sword was still alive but was no longer a threat. He then began to look frantically around their area for Fumu and Bun, tears welling up in his eyes.

Shieldmaiden's eyes grew dim as she watched him. "Sword is our friend again now that Dark Matter has left him, Kirby. Fumu and Bun are fine...should be fine" she said, feeling a bit worried about the two herself.

Meta Knight's bright yellow eyes began to fade, the yellow washing out until his eyes looked almost grey. His heart ached deeply at the sight of what had happened to his two closest comrades, and they were very far from available medical aid for either of them.

"Fumu! Bun!" Shieldmaiden yelled in a voice as loud and booming as her taunt, a chorus of hidden jungle birds screeching in alarm at her cry. "It's safe to come out now!"

A minute later, two small heads peeked out from the wild green foliage.

"Poyo! Poy!" Kirby cried, running over to embrace Fumu and Bun as they gingerly stepped out of the underbrush.

"We're glad to see you too, Kirby" Fumu said, giving her friend a big hug.

The three gathered around the fallen Sword and Blade, crowded together in the narrow path cut through the jungle.

"What do we do now?" Bun asked, his voice timid.

Meta Knight remained silent. His mind was reeling. They needed the second piece of the relic to defeat Dark Matter, but they also needed immediate medical care for his comrades if they were going to survive. Even if they managed to get both of them on Warp Star and fly them back to Dreamland, the entire town was still possessed; they'd be sent to their graves. His greying eyes darted back and forth, wracking his brain as he tried to figure out what to do.

After a few seconds, he looked up at Fumu.

"We are very close to the relic, and need it to stop Dark Matter. Sword and Blade need medical attention. Fumu, Bun; clean and dress Blade's wound. If you can find any fresh water, use it. Keep an eye on Sword as well. He's been badly beaten and will probably need medical aid when he comes to. Kirby, you guard them both."

Fumu's yellow face paled until it was almost white. She had a light bit of medical and first aid knowledge from books, but she did not handle wounds well. Especially bloody ones. Still, she nodded. She would do whatever it took to save Blade's life. Bun nodded as well, feeling terrified but knowing that he needed to be strong for both his sister and the warriors.

Meta Knight saw Fumu's expression, his heart sinking.

"I think he'll be okay" Meta Knight added in an upbeat, optimistic tone that sounded very foreign coming out of his mouth. "The wound must have been light or glancing, and it didn't hit anything major. His biggest risk right now is infection."

Shieldmaiden managed a small, weary smile underneath her helmet. Although Meta Knight was probably right about Blade, his voicing it optimistically would help give the two children the strength they needed to carry out their task.

"What about you two?" Fumu asked in a small voice.

Meta Knight removed his cape as Fumu talked, wrapping it around Blade's wound as a primitive bandage. It was a move which he was loathe to do, as it cost him his ability to fly, but there was no other cloth available and saving his friend's life was more important.

"We have to find the relic." Meta Knight replied simply.

Fumu blanched. "You two are going to go alone?"

"We have to" Shieldmaiden added, clearly uncomfortable with the notion but understanding why. "Sword and Blade can't move and need care but Dreamland doesn't have a non-possessed doctor in the house. If we don't get the relic and stop Dark Matter, there won't be a place for Sword and Blade to heal...or a place for any of us."

Fumu pursed her lips. She knew what Shieldmaiden was trying to communicate; if Dark Matter wasn't stopped right then, Dreamland and soon afterwards every single town in Popstar would be possessed. They would go back and get either killed or subjugated and turned into mindless soldiers. That, or they could slowly waste away and die in the jungle.

She dipped her head to the two, reaching inside of herself for strength as she spoke. "Go ahead. We got this."

"Poyo" Kirby said, brow furrowed and frowning. He gave a single, determined nod to Meta Knight that rather reminded the old veteran of himself.

Meta Knight nodded. Without his cape, he turned and walked off with Shieldmaiden following behind him. Before they disappeared into the underbrush, he turned to look back at the five.

"Be careful."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden walked off through the underbrush, heading in the direction of the next relic. Meta Knight was more silent than usual; he couldn't get Sword and Blade out of his mind. He knew that there was a very real possibility of losing one or both. He blinked his eyes rapidly to keep the grey out of them, not wishing to have his despair obvious in front of Shieldmaiden. The female Star Warrior followed behind him with her relic finder out; her spear was useless for helping him cut through the foliage, but if her machine was right then they were almost right on top of the relic anyway.

Fumu and Bun watched the two armored Star Warriors leave before turning their attention to Blade. Fumu steeled her nerves.

"Kirby, we need to get some fresh water. Remember that stream we crossed a few minutes ago?"

"Poyoyo" Kirby responded.

"We need to go get some water and clean Blade's wound."

Kirby nodded.

"Bun, stay here and keep an eye on them" Fumu instructed. "We'll be back soon."

"Sis... you're leaving me all alone?" Bun asked. Fumu watched her younger brother fiddle with the single button on his clothes as he talked, clearly nervous.

"I'm really sorry Bun, but we have no choice" Fumu responded with a frown. "We need two pairs of hands to carry as much water as we can, but we can't leave these guys alone. We'll be back soon, promise."

Bun scrunched up his face, nodding slowly. He was nearly at his limit, feeling the intense pressure of the two wounded warriors and being scared of sitting alone in the jungle, but he kept his composure for the sake of them all.

Kirby looked at the thick foliage that laid before them and ate Blade's weapon without being given any order to do so, inhaling it to become Sword Kirby. Fumu marveled at his independent forethought; she was going to suggest he do that, seeing as Blade couldn't use his weapon at the moment anyway, but Kirby came to the same conclusion she did without any coaching. He seemed to grow more every day, maturing right before her very eyes. Fumu managed a small smile upon seeing him transform. She gripped the hollowed out coconut the group had drank and eaten out of the night before, which Bun had carried the entire way for them; being the closest thing the party had to a container, it had become a valuable tool long after the coconut's innards were gone. He and Fumu then moved out, Kirby's sharp hearing beelining them towards the water source as he hacked away at the foliage with a speed that the finest knights of the Galaxy Soldier Army would envy.

In a few minutes, the two reached the river. Several small waterfalls trickled into the narrow channel of clear, running water that cut through the jungle. Fumu knelt down and allowed the cool water to run through her hands for a second. She then cupped some in her hands and swallowed a tiny bit. Normally she'd be reluctant to use her healthy body as a guinea pig for wild river water, but they were extremely pressed for time and didn't have the ability to wait for a guaranteed fresh source such as rainwater.

"Definitely fresh...good. Stagnant water would make Blade worse" she said to Kirby, who had already ducked his head into the water and was sucking some up.

The two walked to the river, Fumu carrying the hollowed out coconut. Kirby used his borrowed sword to slice off a branch, obtaining a broad leaf similar to the ones they had used earlier. He then dipped it into the running river, using it as a fragile container to hold as much water as it could. Holding their water steady, Fumu and Kirby then hurried back to where Blade lay.

Blade looked up at Bun, vision blurry and head spinning. A sharp, deep pain radiated from his side. He had no idea the extent of the damage inflicted upon him, but he was thankful to even still be alive. He turned his head slightly, glancing at Sword out of the corner of his eye. Throughout it all, Blade was still just thankful that Sword had not suddenly decided to attack him and that it was Dark Matter's actions instead.

"Sword didn't do this to me" Blade thought to himself, "Dark Matter did. And even if we...or I...don't make it, he'll still be my best friend. No matter what."

Fumu and Kirby came back after a few minutes, Fumu carefully carrying the filled coconut shell while Sword Kirby held his leaf. Upon returning, Sword Kirby quietly reverted back to his original self and rested Blade's weapon by the fallen warrior's side.

Bun was so excited to see his sister that he nearly knocked her and her water over with a hug, the few minutes the two were gone feeling like an eternity in his young mind.

Fumu then knelt down in front of Blade, the coconut full of water beside her. She steeled herself as she reached for Meta Knight's cape, slowly unwrapping Blade's makeshift bandage. Upon unwrapping it, she was greeted by a bloody mess. She felt her breakfast rise to her throat and swallowed, feeling herself sweat heavily. She cleaned a section of Meta Knight's cape with the fresh water before gingerly dipping it onto Blade's wound, Kirby pouring his small offering over it as well with a worried frown. Blade visibly flinched in pain, causing all three to wince. Bun stood back, unable to bear looking at the wound up close but not willing to leave Blade's side either.

"Thanks, guys" Blade said as his head weakly rolled over to glance at the three, his voice faint from pain."You're doing a great job."

At the same time, Shieldmaiden and Meta Knight continued to make their way through the jungle. Meta Knight's relentless slashing at the foliage slowed to a stop as the wild greenery gave way more and more, providing less of a barrier. The ground beneath their feet began to slope downward. A cloud of annoying bugs suddenly swarmed around them, attracted to the carbon dioxide emitted from them as they exhaled. Shieldmaiden cursed and shut her helmet as the two passed through a particularly thick cloud of the insects, feeling her way forward through the swarm with the tip of her spear on the ground like a blind man's cane. Meta Knight, having no such defense, growled deeply under his mask and narrowed his eyes as they pressed on. He silently took note of the subtle changes in the environment around them. All signs, even the awful cloud of bugs, pointed to water being nearby.

Several minutes later, the last thick bush was pushed aside by Meta Knight. The two armored warriors peered out at the small clearing before them. Within the clearing was what appeared to be a small, scummy lake, its watery surface framed by tangled plants. Algae floated around the rim of the water's surface, but the water itself looked clear and an inky black.

Meta Knight turned to face Shieldmaiden, clearly confused. "This is where your machine wants us?"

Shieldmaiden quickly glanced back at the machine, touching the screen. "Yes. Right here. Right...below us." She muttered half-aloud, pressing the screen several times. She then looked back to Meta Knight, before glancing downwards at the water. Her eyes flickered.

"Hope you like to swim, Sir."

Meta Knight felt a chill despite the oppressive, humid heat surrounding them. He went to wrap himself up in his cape as a force of habit before forgetting that he didn't have it on, the cloth left behind with Blade for him to use as a bandage. Meta Knight bit his hidden lip.

"We have no diving equipment. Does your machine tell you how deep it is?"

Shieldmaiden glanced at her machine. "At least 100 feet."

Meta Knight's gaze slowly turned again to the black, inky depths of the deceptively small-looking lake. His species was very good at holding their breath for their size, able to manage 15 minutes without any diving training, but doing so in an unfamiliar area was still deeply dangerous. They were not trained swimmers, they had no way to conserve air besides a single deep breath, and even with the machine's aid they still didn't have an exact idea of where they were going.

"I see a tiny pocket of space surrounding the relic" Shieldmaiden said, zooming on it using the same settings she used to narrow down the location of the first relic in the cave. "That's probably air...it must be in an underwater cave or something."

'Probably' Meta Knight thought grimly, but said nothing.

"We have no choice" He chose to say instead, stepping closer to the water's edge. "We have to try."

Shieldmaiden nodded, glancing again at her machine. Although designed to handle some water damage, it wasn't completely waterproof; this would be the last time it was used. Considering it was almost completely out of batteries and there was no way to recharge it besides the destroyed console of her ship, it seemed fitting to get one last use out of it before it became a useless hunk of metal for good.

Shieldmaiden placed the machine and her shield on the ground beside her, stretching her limbs and flapping her wings several times to limber up. Meta Knight engaged in similar exercises with his own limbs in preparation, heart beginning to pound as he dwelled on what they were about to attempt. He gulped impulsively, mouth dry, as a blast of adrenaline shot through his body. The veteran then forced his anxious thoughts aside, thinking about Sword and Blade laying helplessly in the jungle. He clenched his jaw. They needed him.

Shieldmaiden grimaced, eyes dimming. Though her expressionless helmet did not show it, she was just as nervous about their dive as he was. She was never the best swimmer, preferring to fly in the air, and she hadn't even measured her own breath-holding abilities since she was a child. Her gloved hands began to shake, causing the spear held in her hand to rattle. She then clenched her fists in response, determined not to show any sign of fear in front of the older Star Warrior.

"Well..." Shieldmaiden said, looking to Meta Knight as she spoke in a falsely cheery tone. "Here goes."

She stood at the edge of the water and swung her arms, folding her wings as tightly against her body as possible like the way she had observed diving waterfowl do. In one hand, she held her spear. In the other she held her machine, planning to use it to help guide their path until it became too waterlogged to help them anymore. She took several deep breaths, exhaling, before taking one final breath so large it inflated her round body slightly like Kirby's. She then hopped into the water, fighting against her own light buoyancy by swimming forcefully downwards.

Meta Knight took a large, deep breath of his own before jumping into the water after her, holding the first piece of the relic in his own hand to function as their one and only light source. The two Star Warriors were so light that there was hardly a splash as the two hit the water.

The cold water rushed over the two, causing them to both shiver reflexively. Meta Knight swam in a gentle but persistent pace, trying to balance getting to their destination as quickly as possible and not using his energy reserves too quickly. Shieldmaiden kicked forward with her feet, her weapon held forward like a spearfisher. The two ventured deeper and deeper in the water, the depths around them growing increasingly dark as they swam away from the sunlight. Both Star Warrior's bodies instinctively reacted to their situation. Their earholes and noseholes closed like a seal's, their hearts beating slower to conserve oxygen. The two's vision without goggles was uncomfortable and blurry, but they were both able to see in freshwater.

Shieldmaiden swam in the lead, using the machine to guide their path. They floated further into the abyss with each stroke of their arms and legs, feeling the water grow colder and heavier as they descended. Soon, Shieldmaiden felt her lungs begin to tingle. The tingle slowly gave way to a dull, persistent burning sensation. Her eyes bugged as she looked at the machine; it was beginning to blink in and out, water damage causing the screen to short out. As it dimmed to nothing, it gave one last reading to pinpoint their destination; a few meters lower, it sensed the entrance to a cave. It then went black. Shieldmaiden shook the machine several times angrily before throwing it away, letting it slowly sink into the depths behind her. Meta Knight watched her do so out of the corner of his eye and frowned; he knew why she did that, and hoped that she knew where she was going.

The two both struggled as they swam still lower, the minutes growing closer to the limit that their air capacity could handle. In time, Shieldmaiden gently floated over to a brown rock that rose from the depths. She felt around its outside before slipping under it, disappearing with a kick of her feet. Meta Knight followed her, chest on fire and his head beginning to feel a bit dizzy.

The two swam, skin bumping and occasionally scraping the surface of the cave as they bobbed against its ceiling in an urgent search for an air pocket. Finally, they noticed a gap. Lungs bursting, both Star Warriors redoubled their pace and frantically swam towards the upward tunnel.

Meta Knight could see it, the water's surface, a small hole underwater. His body cried for air, his lungs aching and his mind beginning to feel muddled and unfocused from a lack of oxygen. They both burst through the water's surface, mouth open and gasping desperately for air. Meta Knight looked over at Shieldmaiden as the two broke the surface.

"We made it..." Shieldmaiden uttered breathlessly, the two bobbing in the water.

With no small amount of effort Meta Knight heaved himself out of the water before leaning forward, offering a hand to help Shieldmaiden up. The female Star Warrior grabbed it and hoisted herself out with more difficulty, her soaked wings giving her a lot more weight back on land. Her broad smile was hidden beneath her helm, tired but relieved.

"We made it!" She gasped a second time, chest still heaving for air.

"Indeed" Meta Knight responded breathlessly. He was strangely elated despite their increasingly dire situation, feeling an immense sense of relief that both Star Warriors were able to hold out long enough to make it.

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden then both ventured into the underwater cavern, noticing that the small room that housed the watery entrance they arrived in turned into a single hallway. The two Star Warriors cautiously ventured down the hallway, Meta Knight holding the first piece of the relic and using it as a flashlight. They soon noticed a bright light coming from around the bend that looked identical to the one emanating from the relic in Meta Knight's hand. They ran forward and turned the corner to a shocking sight; there lay the second piece of the relic, suspended on a small flattened rock like the first one was. However, this relic was surrounded by skeletons. Various bones of all ages and sizes surrounded the relic in a jumbled heap, their hollow skulls staring at the two. Amongst the bones, glints of gold and jewelry were caught by the relic's light.

"What the..." Meta Knight murmured while Shieldmaiden held a hand to her mouth, wings folding tightly against her in fright.

Meta Knight knelt down, examining a broken skull with one hand while his other held the first half of the relic tightly. "Cappies" he said after a moment, noting the large space for their eyes and fairly small braincase.

Shieldmaiden relaxed slowly, still visibly disturbed. "Why? How did they all even get here?"

Meta Knight shrugged, tossing the skull back into the pile before he gingerly stepped over the bones. "Who knows? Perhaps they were part of a sacrifice."

He grabbed the second piece of the relic from the stone. Holding the two pieces together, one in each hand, he began to felt a strange pull. The two glowing relic pieces, each crease fitting each other in a perfect groove, were exerting some sort of strange magnet-like force to try and fuse themselves together. Meta Knight took a deep, quaking breath and narrowed his eyes from the light before allowing them to pull together, the two pieces snapping together quickly.

A light flashed so brightly that Meta Knight nearly dropped it, both Star Warriors turning their heads and shutting their eyes from the immense white light that engulfed the entire room. Within a few seconds, the light faded; a faint, steady hum could be heard. Meta Knight tentatively opened one eye again to find the relic fully restored, the two separate disc halves forming one perfect circle. He found feel a tingling, burning energy erupting from the disc, the level of power making him feel intimidated.

Shieldmaiden's eyes glowed green from thought, hidden mouth dropped in awe. "The relic...it's beautiful..."

Meta Knight gave her a single nod, holding it tightly against him.

"We got what we came for...now let's get back to the surface" Meta Knight said as he turned to exit. "There's no time to lose."

Shieldmaiden nodded, and the two carefully stepped over the skeletons before exiting the room. As they left, Shieldmaiden gave the piles of bones one last, thoughtful look. Like most surviving Star Warriors she had seen her fair share of death. However, something about seeing the haphazard collection of bones around the relic in a place as unlikely as an underwater cavern bothered her more than the sight of a stray corpse on the battlefield did. She didn't know what caused their deaths, but at least they could now resume their eternal rest undisturbed.

She couldn't help but wonder if the relic had anything to do with it.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden stood at the water's edge inside the small, cramped underwater cave. In Meta Knight's hands, the fully formed relic glowed fiercely. He could tell that without his gloves on, it might have even burned his bare hands. The two looked at each other, still winded from coming dangerously close to their air limit diving down. Though both of them held neutral expressions, they could see it in each other's eyes; fear. Neither was fully mentally ready to take the plunge again, to feel themselves lose air while stuck in a cold, featureless blue void. Still, they had no choice but to try. Without any way to signal for help or be rescued with equipment, the only thing they could accomplish in the cave was wasting away until their bodies joined the mass grave of Cappies.

The two turned to look at the water. Meta Knight shut his eyes, inhaling as deeply as he could as he tried to recollect the layout of the underwater tunnel they had arrived in. He then exhaled, looking again to Shieldmaiden.

"See you at the surface" he said before taking one final breath, jumping into the water while gripping the relic tightly. Shieldmaiden inhaled deeply herself before jumping in after him.

The two swam forward as fast as they could, now focused on nothing but surviving the trip upward. With their memories guiding them, they were able to push through the underwater tunnel quickly. Their round forms erupted from the mouth of the cave in a flurry of bubbles, Meta Knight first and Shieldmaiden second, before they aimed their bodies upward and began to kick towards the surface.

As time passed, Meta Knight felt that dull pain begin to arise deep in his chest again. He shut his eyes as he swam, focusing on powering forward. As he swam, the pain grew. Shieldmaiden was not faring much better, gripping her spear tightly as she plowed through the water. Her large wings, which were helpful in flight, were completely useless and were in fact holding her back slightly by increasing drag. The two ascended higher, lungs burning in the chests of both Star Warriors as their need for air grew.

Meta Knight remained focused, determined. He kicked his legs and moved one arm rhythmically to propel himself forward, the other hand clutching the relic tightly to his masked chest. He counted the minutes in his head at first as he ascended from the deep. As time wore on, though, he found that counting only seemed to highlight that the two Star Warriors were running out of time. He figured that at least ten minutes had passed, maybe more; he lost count. He felt the first pang in his chest, a sharp ache that radiated upwards. His urge to breathe grew. He ignored it, focusing instead on other parts of his body. The knight cleared his mind as much as possible, focusing on nothing but moving forward, keeping his arms and legs in sync to maximize his efficiency while swimming.

Meta Knight felt something else rise within him as he swam; panic. His mind, usually sharp and laser-focused, began to drift and go muddy even worse than during his descent. His urge to breathe became unbearably strong, his brain firing alarm signals that forced him to feel increasingly distracted. His body demanded air, but there was nothing he could do but continue to hold his failing breath; his swimming movements became a bit less fluid, becoming jerky as fearful instinct began to wash over him and threaten to override his reason. His vision tunneled; he could see blue, more blue, an entire world of featureless blue in all directions. His yellow eyes remained fixed upward, focusing on the surface. In time, he could make out the waves. His entire body was in pain at this point, the deep ache in his chest spreading to his arms and feet. His sight began to blur further, a black halo forming at the edge of his vision that grew ever narrower. He pressed forward in a faster pace that caused more energy expenditure, mind and body both in full alarm mode as his need to breathe reached an urgent level. He was so close to the surface, so close...

Meta Knight felt a sudden, deeply painful spasm in his lungs, bubbles rushing forward and out of his mask. His body rebelled; his oxygen depleted entirely, he couldn't take the lack of air anymore. His mouth suddenly opened against his will like a gaping fish, water rushing in immediately. His limbs flailed aimlessly as the awful burning feeling was replaced with a stabbing sensation, a tiny thousand daggers lining the inside of his throat and into his lungs. He opened his mouth again to gulp in more water, instinctively trying to scream for help but unable to make any noise underwater.

Meta Knight felt his limbs flailing frantically, completely beyond coordinated swimming movements. The flailing slowed after a few seconds; spent and entirely depleted of oxygen, his arms and feet went limp. He witnessed the oddly beautiful sight of water around him as his vision darkened, feeling his body drift along. He felt a strange feeling of peace deep within as his mind slipped into a clouded, dreamlike state, feeling at one with the water around him. It felt as if he had gone back in time, musing that this must have been what it was like to be an unborn child floating in the womb. He relaxed.

Shieldmaiden noticed his panicked movements, herself feeling as if she were about to lose the struggle against her own burning lungs. She watched the flurry of bubbles coming from around Meta Knight's mask, the relic slipping abruptly from his hands. Her eyes widened. In a flash she adjusted her course, thankfully being about a meter below him, and caught the relic in her free hand before it could descend to the depths. She then let go of her spear, allowing it to sink downwards, to grab Meta Knight's body with her other hand. She swam frantically herself, the need for air and the sight of her comrade beginning to drown sending her into a total panic. She propelled them towards the surface, her own lungs practically bursting.

They were only a few feet from the water, allowing them both to complete their final ascent in seconds. Gasping deeply for air, Shieldmaiden hit the surface with Meta Knight and the relic in tow. Her eyes widened as she realized that Meta Knight remained limp and silent, that he was not gasping for air as she was. Cursing between gulping down air as fresh tears stung her eyes, she dragged his still body to the shore of the lake.

Shieldmaiden eyed Meta Knight's body frantically, the Star Warrior lying on his back. His eyes were dimmed out entirely beneath the mask. She quickly slipped it off, a brief high-pitched scream escaping her lips at what she saw underneath. The rosy tint to Meta Knight's cheeks was gone entirely, his deep blue face taking on a slightly gray pallor. His eyes were closed, mouth hanging open slightly. She knew that when there was no tint in the cheeks of her species that they were in very serious trouble. She held his gloved hand right under where the glove ended, at the species' equivalent of a wrist, to feel for a pulse. To her relief, there was one. However, he didn't seem to be breathing.

Immediately she began chest compressions, recalling the exact rhythm based on her survival training. In other species this move could break one's ribs, but thankfully her kind didn't have any ribs to break. After doing so for a few seconds, she then wiped his face and mouth quickly before lowering her breastplate and pressing her lips to his, delivering mouth to mouth. She blew several quick breaths into him before pausing, watching his chest to see if it moved. She then tried again, tears running freely down her face as she frantically tried to recall her hazy memories of the technique and praying she was doing it correctly. After a few seconds, she felt his chest rise under her; she then felt a quaking spasm from his body and heard a gurgling cough.

Shieldmaiden knew what was next and quickly moved her mouth away, turning the near-drowned Star Warrior over as the water violently rushed out of his body. She patted and rubbed his back as he expelled the freshwater in a series of hacks and wracking coughs, her tears of panic turning to those of relief as she saw him breathe again.

Meta Knight emitted a weak groan and laid on his side, the color slowly returning to his face. His eyes opened slowly, glowing a silvery white without his mask on. He was only vaguely aware of what was going on; one second he was swimming, and in the blink of an eye he was suddenly vomiting up water while his head and chest throbbed in pain. His white eyes slowly rolled upwards to look at Shieldmaiden, who had quickly dried her tears while he had his back turned in order to appear tougher than she felt.

He witnessed her giving him a strange smile, eyes glassy as she tried not to burst into tears again.

"You're alive" Shieldmaiden said after a few seconds, voice quaking. "Thank the Stars, you're alive."

Meta Knight tried to speak in response but could only cough weakly, spitting up a bit more water. She patted his back.

"Please, Sir. Don't over exert yourself. You almost drowned."

Meta Knight's eyes widened, flashing visibly at her comment. His mind, still dizzy and half-conscious, processed what she said in slow motion.

"We have the full relic now. I'm going to bring it to Kirby" Shieldmaiden said, standing up after she was sure he was okay and concealing her face again behind her breastplate. "He was able to fight off Dark Matter when it attempted to possess him. He is the strongest of us all."

Meta Knight gave a barely perceptible nod, still lying on his side.

"Go." He managed to say, voice hoarse from the water.

"I will be back." Shieldmaiden responded, scooping up the holy relic in her hands. She then gave him one last look, her protective instincts not wanting to leave the vulnerable Star Warrior in the jungle alone, before dashing back through their narrow path to where the others stayed.

As she left she heard Meta Knight's voice one last time, barely perceptible over the chorus of jungle birds and animals.

"Thank you."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Shieldmaiden broke into a full run as she headed down the jungle path, pausing only to scoop up her shield which had been lying in the grass by the water's edge. She felt deeply rattled; they'd almost lost the relic. They almost lost Meta Knight. She lost her spear. As such anxious thoughts flew through her head, she shut her cyan eyes and forced herself to relax. Meta Knight was alive and as well as could be expected, and the relic was fully formed and in their hands. It could have ended much worse.

Shieldmaiden burst through the path to where the others were located in a rattle of branches and leaves, the sound so startling that Kirby held up his arms in an instinctual fight reflex before seeing who it was. Everyone looked up sharply, including Blade.

"Shieldmaiden! Thank goodness...oh wow, is that the relic?" Fumu asked, her hand slipping off the wounded Blade's chest as she knelt beside the injured warrior.

"Wow...it's putting out a crazy amount of light" Bun mused. "Like a little sun!"

Shieldmaiden held it out for the group to see, her shield in one hand and the relic in the other. The light was indeed so bright that she couldn't look at it directly.

"It is." Shieldmaiden murmured. "Finally, it's made whole. We now have the power to defeat Dark Matter."

"Good..." Blade managed to say, body remaining motionless but head tilted over to see the relic. His hidden eyes widened in awe as he gazed at it, the physical culmination of all of the hard work the group had done.

Shieldmaiden turned her head to Blade, hidden brow furrowed in concern. "How are you? And how's Sword?'"

Blade gave a nod. "I'm fine, thanks to Fumu, Bun and Kirby."

He was still wounded and in need of a doctor, but the three had been constantly tending to his wound and keeping it as clean and well-bandaged as possible. They ran back and forth with fresh water from the coconut, offering him a drink from it as well. It was the best care he could possibly receive without real medical equipment. Blade then looked to Sword, who still lied motionless. Fumu followed his gaze.

"Sword's okay" Fumu said to Shieldmaiden, voicing the concern of both herself and Blade. "He's breathing fine and doesn't seem to have any lasting damage besides some cuts and bruises. But he doesn't seem to want to wake up for some reason. It's almost as if he's in a deep sleep..."

Shieldmaiden's eyes dimmed. "After possession by Dark Matter it could take anywhere from minutes to hours to wake up. It also depends on the severity of the beating they needed to scare Dark Matter out of them."

"Poyoyii?" Kirby asked, looking around before tilting his head in a questioning gesture.

Fumu looked to Kirby before glancing back at the female Star Warrior, brow raised in concern. "I think he's asking about Meta Knight. Where is he, anyway? Is he okay?" Her voice cracked slightly, the mere thought of losing him after nearly losing Sword and Blade all in the same day being too overwhelming for her to even consider.

"Meta Knight?" Shieldmaiden paused. She knew how proud the veteran was, how worried Fumu and Bun already were with two wounded warriors in their care already...they didn't need to know what happened.

"Ah...he's just fine!" She replied, able to put on a falsely cheery voice but thankful that her helmet hid her true expression. "Drying up after our swim is all."

"Swim?" Bun asked. He did notice that Shieldmaiden's wings looked weirdly soggy, but they were all running around in a hot and humid jungle environment for hours and sweating profusely. He figured he looked soggy, too.

"Yes" Shieldmaiden replied with a nod. "It was underwater."

Shieldmaiden walked over to Kirby, who still had a small frown on his face in concern from Meta Knight not being present. She gently pushed the relic into the small creature's hands before her cyan eyes met his, the eyes of both Star Warriors taking on an eerie orange highlight as the relic's illumination reflected off them.

"Kirby. This is what we need to stop Dark Matter. You were able to stop it; it couldn't possess you. We need your help."

Kirby blinked several times, before his gaze hardened. He took the relic firmly, frown deepening. He then looked up, gaze slowly working his way around the group from person to person. Gone was the cheery, placid expression he usually wore, and in its place was grim determination. Upon touching Kirby's rounded hands the relic seemed to glow brighter, the golden disc beginning to hum and vibrate slightly.

Fumu's eyes widened. "It's responding to him! The book said that in the hands of one who could use it, its full power could be unleashed."

Kirby looked to Sword, the relic still in his hands. He carried it over to the fallen warrior's body. He then gently touched the gleaming disc to Sword's helmed forehead. As he did, Kirby's eyes briefly glowed a fiery yellow even brighter than Meta Knight's. Everyone present watched, mesmerised, as Sword's head began to shake slowly.

Kirby stepped back as Sword let out a small groan, lifting a hand to his head and sitting up slowly.

"Ugh...what happened? Where's that bright light coming fro-BLADE!" Sword shouted, scrambling to his feet quickly upon seeing his wounded friend. He ran over to Blade, fists shaking.

"Blade, are you okay? What happened?! Who did this to you?" Sword's hand slipped to his weapon, unsheathing his sword and whipping it angrily in the air. "Tell me who hurt you. I'll kill them!"

Blade shook his head slightly in response. "You can't do that, but thank you. As for this, I'm fine...it looks worse than it is."

"Don't bullshit me" Sword said with his voice raised, glaring at his old friend. "Who did this?"

Shieldmaiden looked away, Bun looking down at his feet and kicking lightly at a fallen branch. Fumu bit her lip.

"Sword...you got possessed by Dark Matter." She said solemnly. "A little piece of it followed us all the way out here, somehow. And when you got possessed, you turned on us and..." She tore her gaze away from Sword, glancing at Blade's wound.

A visible shudder flew through Sword's body, causing his armor to rattle. He dropped his blade, fingers slipping until the weapon fell at his side.

"I...what?" Sword asked, his voice tiny.

Slowly he turned to look at Blade, who was still lying on the ground with Meta Knight's blood-stained cape wrapped around his side. For the briefest second Fumu could actually see Sword Knight's yellow eyes, flashing so brightly from emotion that they glowed through the darkness of his helmet before dimming out again. He fell to his knees by his friend, gently clasping both of his hands over one of Blade's and dipping his head downward. It took all of his strength not to weep openly in front of the group, but the revelation that his own weapon nearly killed his best friend had left him beyond words.

Blade squeezed his friend's hand. His own brimming tears were hidden behind his emotionless helmet, but Sword had heard his friend's voice enough to know when the tears were there.

"It's okay, buddy." Blade said reassuringly. "It wasn't you. It was Dark Matter using your body."

Sword said nothing, clutching his friend's hand tighter in response. His eyes were closed, tears running down his cheeks, but no one could see any change in expression due to his helmet.

Shieldmaiden gave Sword a nod. "We're just glad you're okay, Sword...and as soon as possible, we'll get Blade the best doctor in Dreamland." She then turned around to face away from the two.

"However, the second Meta Knight gets back here, we need to get out of here or there won't be any doctors to go to. I'm going to go check on him."

"Agreed" Fumu said, Bun nodding enthusiastically behind her. She then turned to look at Kirby, who had gone strangely silent. The relic was still clutched in his hands, still humming. His expression remained oddly blank.

Shieldmaiden emerged back from the path a few minutes later with Meta Knight, who walked quietly behind her armored in everything but his cape. Fumu noticed immediately that there was something off about him; he walked in a slow, stilted manner, and his eyes glowed a dim amber. He appeared to be breathing heavily, chest rising and falling deeply enough to slightly shift the lower portion of his mask up and down with each breath. She expected him to be tired considering the two Star Warriors had just swam to retrieve the relic, but he looked more winded than what a mere swim should have caused. He looked ill.

Meta Knight first made his way to Sword and Blade. Upon seeing Sword awake and Blade moving, his eyes began to glow more brightly.

"Sword. Blade. It is good to see that you're both doing better" Meta Knight said, the tone of his voice being the only giveaway that the Star Warrior felt visibly relieved at the sight of his two comrades alive.

Sword stood stiffly at the sight of his commander and gave a salute. Blade simply rolled his head over to look Meta Knight in the eye, managing to laugh weakly.

"Just fine, Sir." He replied.

Shieldmaiden looked up at the sky. "Sorry to interrupt, guys, but we have to get out of here" she interjected, her voice tense.

All three warriors looked up before Meta Knight gave a curt nod in response. She was right; the three knights would have time to talk later, and they needed to get back to Dreamland right away. He then cast his glance back downwards at Blade, troubled expression hidden.

"You will all have to fit back onto Warp Star, and I need my cape to fly."

Blade nodded and shifted, visibly wincing from pain, as Meta Knight took the bloody and damp cape from his friend's body and fastened it back to his own. Meta Knight felt terrible taking away Blade's only "bandage", but it would be physically impossible to fit 6 onto Warp Star and the only alternative was being left in the jungle. He was deeply afraid of Blade being moved and jostled, let alone being forced to ride through the air when he clearly wasn't strong enough to hold on very well himself and would need support. Still, they had no choice. The jungle was large and so dense, so impossible to pierce from above, that even the sun's rays barely filtered through the thick canopy. If anyone rode off on Warp Star then whoever remained in the jungle would almost certainly be lost there for good.

"Right." Fumu added. She cast her gaze on everyone in the group, eyes scanning each person before her gaze settled on Kirby. "Everyone ready?"

The group murmured and nodded in response. Kirby looked at Fumu with the relic in his hands, his expression still eerily blank.

Fumu looked up at the jungle's canopy, a wall of green trees surrounding the group in every direction. She cupped her hands to her face and cried "Warp Star!"

Within mere seconds, a distant roar of crashing trees could be heard. Warp Star suddenly descended from directly above them, slicing through the surrounding branches and foliage in the jungle canopy as if they were butter. Warp Star landed evenly at Kirby's feet, the star followed by a rain of small sticks and leaves from above that were knocked loose by its arrival. The others began to board, one by one. Sword and Fumu both held Blade up, one under each arm, as they brought the wounded knight over to the star. They then gently set him down facing upwards, as if he were on a bed. Between his leg injury and the fresh sword wound on his side, Blade was practically helpless.

Sword and Fumu looked at each other nervously. Blade was in no condition to hold onto Warp Star, and the vehicle didn't exactly come equipped with seat belts. Kirby looked at Blade, lying in the center of Warp Star. He then hopped aboard, the relic in one hand and the other clutching one of the star's tips. His eyes suddenly glowed a bright yellow, his entire body radiating golden light as the relic in his hand hummed loudly. Meta Knight stepped back with his own yellow eyes flashing in surprise, having seen Kirby react to its power for the first time.

As Kirby's body glowed, Warp Star itself suddenly began to radiate a strange aura. A golden, glittery mist began to rise steadily from Warp Star. To his surprise Blade found that he himself was glowing with the same glittering mist. He tried to move his hand, but it immediately snapped back to Warp Star's surface as if it were a magnet.

"What the...is this thing magnetic to armor now or something?" Blade asked, head turning back and forth as that was the only body part he could move.

"Poyo" Kirby said in a faint voice, eyes still glowing bright yellow.

Fumu's eyes grew wide. "I think...I think Kirby's doing that on purpose, Blade. To keep you stable on Warp Star as we fly out."

Her eyes widened as memories of what she had read regarding the divine item came flooding back to her.

"The book said this relic would manifest its power to its owner's will. The magic was divine in nature, but it could still be used for virtually anything and supposedly granted all sorts of crazy powers. That is why it was broken in half and hidden so well in the first place. Too much power for one person. Who knows what earlier wielders of this thing did...?" Fumu mused aloud.

"Who knows?" Blade replied as he rested his head back onto Warp Star's surface, staring skyward. He had no idea how it worked, or how Kirby was able to channel it, but he was deeply thankful. It it wasn't for Kirby's newfound ability, the ride back would have been an incredibly dangerous balancing act.

Meta Knight nodded, eyes glowing green. "If that's being caused by Kirby, then Blade is secure. Good. We should get going, then."

Everyone else boarded Warp Star besides Shieldmaiden and Meta Knight. Shieldmaiden fluffed and shook her wings rapidly, attempting to wick away the last bit of water from them in preparation for flight. Meta Knight closed his eyes, reaching into the depths of his mind as he seeked the power of his cape. Within seconds the cape changed into wings, their bases anchoring into Meta Knight's back and spreading in bat-like fingers as the cape's fabric transformed into skin. Blade's blood stains remained on the cape through the transformation, showing up in distorted splatters on the inside of the Star Warrior's right wingsail. It looked as if Meta Knight was the wounded one.

As Fumu climbed aboard Warp Star and settled into a similar position to the one she had arrived in, she suddenly found herself unable to easily move as well. Bun lifted his hand several times for no reason other than to watch it snap back to Warp Star's surface, fascinated. Kirby remained motionless on Warp Star, eyes still glowing a steady bright yellow that matched the color of the relic. After everyone was safely aboard, each passenger feeling "glued down" just like Blade was, Warp Star began to shakily lift from the ground.

Kirby's brows furrowed, the unbalanced Warp Star evening out as it ascended. Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden took off to fly after them, dodging stray branches as they passed through the jungle's thick canopy. Soon they were above the jungle, the tightly-packed trees appearing like an endless green carpet. Fumu looked downwards, stomach feeling a bit floaty from their sudden ascent. She closed her eyes. One way or another, they were going home.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Warp Star flew through the air, still far below its usual speed for the sake of its passengers and the two Star Warriors who were forced to fly behind it. Neither Shieldmaiden nor Meta Knight felt truly ready for a marathon flight after their ordeal, but they didn't have a choice. At least Shieldmaiden's wings weren't used during the swim and Meta Knight's wings were connected to his inner energy; if they relied on his physical capabilities, after suffering from low oxygen by near-drowning, there was no way they'd stay spread the entire flight.

Kirby quietly piloted Warp Star, looking forward. His eyes continued to glow as he exerted his will over the vehicle through the relic, making sure to keep everyone steady. He knew that if his concentration wavered for one second that Blade, who was unable to hold on, could go tumbling off and fall to his death. Kirby could feel the relic in his hand as he held it; it felt almost as if it were a part of his body, a phantom extension of his hand. The power contained within it seeped through in slow, controlled doses as its holder kept it in check. He could tell that this strange disc could grant him everything he wanted, that he could use the same power safely holding his friends to make every single watermelon lift off of the farmer's fields and float in a line to his house. The tempting thought crossed his mind as he flew, further reminding him of how hungry he was. Kirby's brow furrowed further, exhaling forcefully. His strongest urge at the moment was to get his friends home safely and to defeat Dark Matter. That was all he wanted in his heart; his other needs were secondary. That was all he would allow the relic to do for him.

Sword held onto Warp Star while sitting closely to his friend, Blade. The wound had stopped bleeding, but every single bump and jostle radiated through the wounded knight's entire body. He grit his teeth. He would not show any weakness. Sword remained focused, scowling under his mask. Dark Matter threatening his adopted homeland was bad enough, but to possess him and cause his body to attack Blade was unforgivable. Sword was usually more even-tempered than his friend, often being the one to calm Blade down, but this situation was one of the few things that could send him into a deep, seething rage. He would do anything to stop Dark Matter, and even the being's disgusting approach of using innocents as meat shields wouldn't get in his way.

Fumu and Bun stayed silent, hair whipping around far less on their return trip thanks to Kirby's strange magic. This allowed them to fully appreciate the vista spread under them, the endless forest of trees broken up by a light, fluffy cloud as they flew around or under them. Neither child could fully enjoy the sight, too deeply troubled by their upcoming confrontation with Dark Matter. While Kirby's newfound power was obvious, they also knew that they were up against something big. This wasn't a mere "ball" of Dark Matter, who still nearly killed several members of their group despite having a tiny fraction of its parent's power. This was the nucleus of Dark Matter itself, the force so powerful that it would be a matter of days before its dark influence spread over all of Popstar.

As Meta Knight flew, his thoughts drifted towards Dark Matter and the battle they were about to endure. His gloved reached for Galaxia, hand grazing over its hilt. He wasn't sure who or what he was going to fight, but with Kirby distracted by Dark Matter itself it would be up to him and the other warriors to cut down his possessed minions. This wasn't a regular battle with willing soldiers as the opposition, or even Demon Beasts; this was one involving possessed innocents, many who would end up wounded or even killed. The thought of raising his sword against them sickened him. It reminded him of what he had to do to Knuckle Joe's father, Jecra. Still, there was no choice; if they didn't fight back against Dark Matter's makeshift army, they could get killed themselves.

Meta Knight thought quietly as he flew, already considering tactics for the fight ahead. He figured the possessed Cappy citizens could be easily subdued and knocked unconscious without killing them, considering they were all civilians. The King's Waddle Dees, each one holding a spear and at least somewhat trained for combat, would be more of an issue. His amber gaze fell upon Shieldmaiden as his thoughts continued, noting that she was without her own spear and held nothing but a shield at the moment. He had no idea the weapon was missing until just then; his last memories before being rescued was her swimming a short distance away from him, spear held out in front of her. He reasoned she must have dropped it during the dive. Just thinking of that set of memories sent a deep chill through the Star Warrior's spine. He wouldn't want to venture near anything deeper than chest-level for a while after that.

Meta Knight's mind then drew deeper into his near-death experience. Forcing himself to dredge up rather than bury such traumatic thoughts, a morbid curiosity caused him to recollect the very first thing he could remember. His eyes then widened as he realized the female was giving him mouth to mouth. He shut his eyes, grimacing as his hidden cheeks tinted slightly. He had allowed himself to wonder several times what it would be like to press his lips against hers, and then it actually happened in a manner that involved crying and vomiting. He was sure there was a grim joke about his love life in there somewhere.

Meta Knight's eyes flickered a light green as he glanced at her again, angling his wings in a V to dip downward and dodge a cloud so thick it would've certainly caused turbulence. He couldn't help but wonder, though the thought was silly, if they'd ever get to press their lips to each other again under less ugly circumstances. His heart leaped at the thought, cheeks reddening further. Though still terribly embarrassed and ashamed of thinking of a friend in such a way, perhaps even moreso now, he was unable to deny his feelings to himself any longer. The strange taboo thrill of privately nursing such thoughts was far more pleasant to dwell on than the ugly battle they were about to partake in.

Warp Star and the two winged warriors continued to fly, passing the borders of the jungle and soaring over the sea. Though they were still quite a distance away, they could all make out the landmass of Dreamland's borders long before making landfall. A dark, black stretch of cloudy sky, looking like a massive tornado formation, hung above every inch of Dreamland's visible border from their perspective.

Bun frowned, feeling goosebumps from something other than the wind rushing over them. "Looks like a really mean storm..."

Fumu nodded quietly. They were flying straight into the dark mass, like pilots flying into the eye of a hurricane. Eventually, the deceptively calm land and its dark, looming shadow grew larger in their view as they hurtled towards it. Kirby saw the mass of Dark Matter and tensed, gripping both Warp Star and the relic harder. He wanted so badly to hurtle towards it at top speed, which would have cut the entire travel time into minutes, but with his passengers on board that would be impossible.

Within a few more minutes, they finally passed over the lip of the cliff and onto the grounds of Dedede's castle. Kirby lowered Warp Star, preparing to land. Warp Star gently floated downwards, closer and closer, until it neatly landed only a few feet from the back entrance to Dedede's castle. As soon as the Star hovered a foot from the ground the yellow glow in Kirby's eyes vanished, the golden mist surrounding the group disappearing. All at once everyone flopped off the star, Blade included. He instinctively rolled off of Warp Star at an angle that would protect his wound, but the light fall still caused him to yell in pain. Fresh blood began to ooze from the wound, its light scarring being torn back open from the sudden movement.

Sword and Fumu held Blade up. Meta Knight landed and, breathing heavily from exertion, wrapped himself up in his cape while facing the group.

"We have minutes until Dark Matter realizes we're here..if we're lucky." Meta Knight said. "Fumu, Bun, Sword - take Blade to a restroom that has a First-Aid kit. Clean and bandage him up as well as you can. You did a great job keeping him stable in the jungle, but freshwater won't prevent an infection. After that, find a more secluded place to hide. Sword... scout ahead of them, and eliminate anyone who gets in your way. It's the only way to keep your whereabouts a secret."

Sword nodded grimly.

"Shieldmaiden, you and I will have to deal with any minions that come to Dark Matter's aid. The second Kirby goes off to fight them the Waddle Dees are probably going to pour out from every room in the castle. The villagers probably won't be far behind."

Shieldmaiden nodded in response, gaze hardening. "Yes, Sir. I can make due with a shield just fine until the first person comes along with a weapon."

Meta Knight nodded tersely. "Good." He then turned to Kirby. His eyes began to glow blue; every day he watched the little boy, his strength and discipline seemed to grow. Without Kirby, none of this would have been possible.

"Kirby." Meta Knight said. Upon hearing his deep voice, Kirby turned to look at him questioningly. To his surprise, the stoic veteran gave Kirby a salute.

"Good luck."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Kirby listened to Meta Knight's words, gaze hardening. With a small frown, he nodded. Casting his deep blue eyes upwards, he took off on Warp Star so fast that Meta Knight's cape and the hair of the children whipped forward violently from the wind. Everyone present watched him go, a tiny yellow and pink blur arcing across the sky towards the black mass.

Meta Knight turned around to face Sword, Blade, Bun and Fumu. "Go!" He demanded, eyes flashing with emphasis as he spoke.

"Y-yes, Sir!" Sword said, snapping to attention after he began to usher Blade and the children towards the castle's less trafficked back entrance.

Meta Knight watched them leave silently, wrapped up in his cape. He then turned to Shieldmaiden, cape slowly drawing aside as he withdrew Galaxia from its sheath. The fiery golden sword radiated brightly against the darkness surrounding them. He took a deep breath.

"Be ready."

Shieldmaiden nodded without a word, lowering her shield. Together, the two approached the castle grounds. They made it past the front of the hold, using Meta Knight's expertise about every entrance, exit, and hallway to its fullest. As they crept down a hallway, a Waddle Dee suddenly rounded the corner and headed towards them. Both Star Warriors slammed their backs to the wall just out of sight.

"Stay here" Meta Knight instructed, deep voice barely a whisper. He then stepped out in front of the Waddle Dee. The Waddle Dee rattled its spear and prepared to charge; however, as it raised its spear, the blue knight suddenly spun around in his cape and vanished.

The Waddle Dee paused. It looked to its left and its right, scratching its head. The Waddle Dee suddenly fell forward, collapsing in an unconscious heap. Behind it stood Meta Knight, panting, his hands raised high with Galaxia held pommel first. He had struck such a blow purposefully, trying not to kill the innocent Waddle Dee which acted as a vessel. A small blob of Dark Matter rose from the Waddle Dee's body, dissipating into the air slowly as if it were a plume of fanned smoke.

Meta Knight looked down, still panting. He swiped up the discarded spear from the fallen Waddle Dee and calmly walked back to Shieldmaiden, handing it to her.

"Your new weapon."

Shieldmaiden took it, examining it carefully.

"Well done...thank you" she said. She was impressed.

The two then proceeded down the castle's hallway. Shieldmaiden was curious why they were inside sneaking, when the whole point of their mission was to mow down as many possessed citizens as possible. She looked to Meta Knight as the two crept silently.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

Meta Knight did not look back at her, amber eyes staring fixedly ahead. "To eliminate the largest threat first."

The two began to travel up the castle's floors, the rooms becoming larger and more lavish. Shieldmaiden's heart dropped as she recognized where they were going; the room of King Dedede. The two Star Warriors eventually made it to the bedroom of the king itself. It was closed. Slowly, Carefully, Meta Knight crouched low. He looked to Shieldmaiden, who gave him a barely perceptible nod. She was ready.

In a single fluid movement, Meta Knight kicked the door down and charged inside. The two Star Warriors barged into the room, wings flared and weapons brandished, only to slowly drop them to their sides in confusion. The room was empty.

Meta Knight turned around with a curse, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to figure out where else the King could be. He then looked up, eyes glowing brighter. "The dining hall."

The two then exited the room and dashed down the hall, heading towards the castle's lavish dining area. Shieldmaiden thought as she ran; from what she knew of Dark Matter, it typically didn't attend to the needs of the body it possessed and ran them to the ground, starving and weak, like the irresponsible caretaker of a vehicle. However, it was known to take the bodies of those who it prized and keep them as healthy as possible. If Meta Knight's guess was correct, and the King was in the dining hall, then Dark Matter obviously had no intention of letting him go.

Sword and Fumu held Blade up, moving as quickly as they could through the back entrance reserved for laundry. Bun traveled shortly behind them, hyper alert and hidden eyes scrutinizing every dark shadow the group passed as if it would leap out at them. They made it to the bathroom, a public space utilized by the Waddle Dee servants, and set Blade down. Since it was a public restroom, they couldn't lock the door.

"We have to act fast" Sword uttered just loudly enough for the others to hear.

Bun spread out a laundry towel which was hanging nearby, and the two others then gently laid Blade to the floor. Blade let out a stifled groan in pain, causing Fumu to look up at the door nervously. No one seemed to hear. The two then worked frantically, tearing up the restroom in an attempt to find a First-Aid kit.

Fumu cursed with frustration as she rummaged through the bathroom's cabinets and shelving, finding everything else, even diapers, but no First-Aid box.

"Figures King Dedede's bathrooms are not up to safety code", she growled.

As Fumu dug, she came across enough valuable things to make their plan work. Several thin, clean socks from a pile of clean but unfolded laundry for bandages. Rubbing alcohol. Hydrogen peroxide. She hastily brought the items to Sword, and they both loomed over Blade's body.

Sword took the cloth section of Blade's armor over his side, where he was cut, and after dousing his weapon in rubbing alcohol gently began to slice away enough of his cloth tunic to fully expose the wound. Fumu grimaced as the sight of the wound hit her; it had definitely become infected, despite their diligant care. Considering Blade was forced to sit in a wild and germ-infested jungle for hours, it was inevitable. Sword shook his head slightly at the sight, lifting the hydrogen peroxide bottle. Fumu held Blade's hand, turning her head away and shutting her eyes. She knew what was coming.

"Sorry, buddy. This is going to sting" Sword said gently. Blade gave a silent nod in response.

Sword then poured hydrogen peroxide over the wound, causing a sickly frothy mixture to erupt forth from it. Even with her eyes closed, the strange hissing of the hydrogen peroxide mixed with the smell of the wound nearly made Fumu vomit. Blade quaked in pain, letting out a strained cry and gripping Fumu's hand so tightly it hurt.

Fumu looked up at Sword, averting her eyes from the frothy mess. "We need to clean it with soap now and get it bandaged." She grabbed a plastic cup from the bathroom sink and filled it with a mixture of liquid soap and water, running back over to Blade. Blade was breathing heavily, clearly suffering as the disinfectant caused his pain to flare up even worse than before.

Sword flinched, feeling terrible for inflicting further pain on Blade even though they had no choice. He patted his friend's hand.

"You holding up okay?"

Blade's weak voice took on a haughty tone as he replied "Ahh, please. This is nothing."

Sword chuckled, despite himself. Blade making a comment like that was the first time the wounded knight truly sounded like himself in days.

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden headed towards the banquet hall. Since the King loved his meals to the point of gluttony, possibly even as much as Kirby, his dining area was perhaps the most elaborate and lavish room in the entire castle. Slowly, they crept up to the door. This time, Meta Knight very slowly cracked it open with one gloved hand. He peered inside with one eye, before slowly sliding it further open. The two Star Warriors then slipped into the room, using their short stature to their advantage by ducking under empty chairs at the end of the king's table.

After several tense minutes of hiding, they observed a pair of small tan feet walk by from their vantage point between the chair's legs. Several Waddle Dees walked in procession, their hands out of view but the smell of well-prepared food hitting the noseholes of both Star Warriors. Meta Knight closed his eyes, willing his stomach not to growl and give them away; it had been days since he had eaten anything other than a random jungle fruit or handful of nuts. He was starving.

The two peered forward from the chair legs, noting that at the base of the table a pair of large, yellow feet hung freely. Meta Knight looked at Shieldmaiden as he slowly withdrew Galaxia from its sheath.

"At my word..." he said. He then glanced up, watching from his vantage point the Waddle Dee's feet turn around and leave. He waited until they exited the room, giving it a full minute after they heard the door close.

"...Now!" Meta Knight ordered. He slipped out from under the table with Galaxia in hand, Shieldmaiden hopping up from behind the chair across from him. Before them, at the base of the long table, sat King Dedede. His eyes were closed, beak twisted in a slight frown. He held a fork in his hand, head slowly lifting upwards from his food to look at the two intruders.

Dedede's eyes flew open, revealing no pupil. In jerky, contorted motions as if he were a puppet, he slowly lifted out of his chair. The King's belly then suddenly ripped open as if gutted, revealing a black, solid mass within. A single amber eye popped open in the middle of the King's stomach, darting around wildly before it focused on the two Star Warriors. Shieldmaiden screamed in terror, her spear dropping and hitting the hard floor with a clatter. Meta Knight flung his cape around himself with his eyes narrowed, Galaxia still held outwards; usually unshakable, the grotesque sight caused even him to flinch.

King Dedede then began to float towards them, levitating. A dark purple mass suddenly shot forth from the unholy eye on his stomach. Shieldmaiden raised her wings and scrambled to grab her spear, rolling out of the way, as Meta Knight wrapped himself in his cape and dodged the attack by teleporting. The beam of dark energy smashed into the floor, leaving a smoking dent.

Dark Matter then rested its terrible gaze on Shieldmaiden, sensing her fear. The winged Star Warrior held up her shield just in time to deflect another blast, the dark energy bouncing off of her shield safely but the blow knocking her back several feet. Meta Knight hurled a sword beam forth at Dedede, causing the grotesque mockery of the king to be knocked back. It then aimed and shot at Meta Knight, who dove out of the way. Shieldmaiden beat her chest several times with the hand that held her spear, seeking courage. She then held her hand outwards and flicked her wrist, as if she were performing a parlor trick with cards. With an odd sound like splintering wood, the single spear suddenly turned into many. She then took to the air, flying as high as she could in the tall ceiling of the banquet hall, and threw her summoned javelins at Dedede. One at a time the spears lodged themselves into the dark mass, appearing to pass through Dark Matter for about a foot before sticking and sinking in like mud. Another spear impaled the loose part of Dedede's sleeve.

King Dedede rose in the air until he levitated at her level, spears sticking out from his belly like a pincushion. He withdrew his star-emblazoned hammer, which had gone nearly black from the unholy energies radiating from it. The King then charged through the air with his hammer out, ready to connect with Shieldmaiden. The Star Warrior, being more agile in the air, dodged it as the King nearly crashed into a wall. With unnatural reflexes, Dedede turned to bounce his feet off the wall and swung to hit the escaping Shieldmaiden at the same time. The hammer's blow clipped her wingtip, throwing her off balance. She spun wildly out of control before crashing into an empty serving cart.

Meta Knight aimed a sword beam dead center at King Dedede's eye, only to suddenly get knocked off balance from behind by a blunt force. He staggered forward, mask knocked off center. Shieldmaiden stepped out of the wrecked serving cart to see Escargon, his back turned and aimed shell first to ram Meta Knight from behind. She was surprised to see him, considering that the snail was less of a threat in battle than a weaponless Waddle Dee, but serving as a distraction from the far more powerful King Dedede made his presence much more deadly. She paused her attack on Dark Matter to take off and aim downwards at Escargon like a diving hawk, shield out. Escargon saw the blow coming and ducked. Shieldmaiden crashed into his shell with her shield, the force so tremendous that a deep crack formed in the snail's shell. Escargon flailed momentarily, his host clearly trying to find out how to counter her attack, as Shieldmaiden landed. She charged forward, shield out, to bash the snail square in the face. His face rattled visibly, eyes rolling to the back of his head and mouth hanging open. The snail then swayed and fell over, a violet mist beginning to seep out from under his shell. Shieldmaiden got a running start to fly again, preparing to charge headfirst into Dedede. As she did, she watched Meta Knight hold his sword poised. He began to shake, the motion radiating from the core of his body to his sword. Galaxia's glow brightened until it looked like a radiating shaft of light. Shieldmaiden dived onto Dedede head first with her shield out again, smacking him in the back of the head and stunning him. As he shook his head, he lifted his blank eyes to see a massive sword beam hurtling towards him.

The sword beam hit him with enough force to knock the King into a wall, his huge body slamming so hard that a shower of stone debris rained on top of his head. King Dedede's body sagged, crumpled. The large dark mass that made up the King's belly slowly began to disappear, dark vapors seeping out of his earholes and beak like smoke out of an oven. To the immense relief of both Star Warriors, the part of the King's midsection that Dark Matter inhabited still looked like a normal belly after it was gone. The javelins which punctured his belly like a pincushion fell out, one by one, as Dark Matter vacated his body.

Both Star Warriors stood, panting. Meta Knight wrapped his cape around himself and calmly walked over to first Escargon, then Dedede, checking their pulse.

"Alive" he muttered, resting Dedede's gloved hand back down on the ground and walking towards the dining room entrance. Upon hearing the news, Shieldmaiden breathed a deep sigh of relief through her helmet. She was thankful that both she and Meta Knight only hit the visible parts of Dark Matter in the King's belly. Had they aimed elsewhere, the King might have been rendered worse than just unconscious. Meta Knight looked to Shieldmaiden, whose spear was raised and wings were flared.

"Every possessed soul in Dreamland has probably caught wind of us by now", he stated. "We cannot rest. This is just the beginning."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Fumu sat up, wiping sweat from her brow. Sword, who was sitting beside her, rose to his feet. He wiped his white gloves against each other several times before heading towards the bathroom sink, washing them off with soap.

Blade laid before the two, his wound clean and "bandaged" by long socks and a laundry pin. Sword and Fumu did the best they could to fix Blade up while Bun stood guard at the bathroom's front door, listening for intruders. After washing his hands, Sword stood aside to allow Fumu to do the same. Blade chatted with them a bit after the painful wound cleaning was over. Sword smiled as he listened to his friend cracking a fashion-related joke about his sock bandage, glad to hear his friend sounding more like his old self.

No sooner did Fumu dip her hands under the faucet did Bun freeze, shoulders shaking as he whipped his head around to face the group.

"Footsteps" he hissed.

Sword cursed under his breath and stepped forward, unsheathing his weapon.

"I'm going to go deal with this. Hide in the cabinets if you can, kids" Sword stated. He then cautiously crept forward, sword out, before sliding out from the swinging bathroom door.

Sword observed an unarmed Waddle Dee heading down the hallway in their direction, towards the bathroom. Sword took note that although the Waddle Dee was most certainly possessed and its bodily needs neglected, it was at least allowed the dignity of utilizing indoor plumbing. Still, it couldn't be allowed to reach its destination. Sword leapt forward, delivering a kick to the clueless Waddle Dee's face. The Waddle Dee spun backwards from the surprise attack before attempting to tackle Sword, a telegraphed move that the knight easily dodged. He then delivered a blow to the back of the Waddle Dee's head with his fist. The Waddle Dee slumped forward before falling to the floor face-first, the spirit of Dark Matter escaping it. Sword breathed heavily, shoving the body aside with one foot. He was not particularly good in hand-to-hand combat, having spent his life learning swordplay, but a Waddle Dee without a weapon was nearly harmless. He figured even Bun could knock one out.

The warrior headed back to the bathroom, stepping inside. He gestured to Fumu, and the two then hoisted Blade up as gently as they could. Blade let out a stifled groan in pain, his wound spotting a dull red against the bandages.

"Meta Knight was right; this bathroom will get too much foot traffic. We have to get out of here. I know where we can hide safely" Sword said as the four exited the restroom.

The group walked through the castle's eerily empty halls, heading to a rarely-used corridor on its ground floor. Sword then stopped, gently transitioning Blade to Bun's shoulder before standing in front of an odd rusty door.

"This is an unfinished expansion to the castle" Sword said. "It was started by one of Dedede's ancestors centuries ago, but never completed. No one ever comes here."

Blade's pained grin was hidden behind his helmet. "Oh yeah...I remember when Meta Knight showed us this place! Good thinking."

Sword easily broke the fragile, rusted lock, grunting with effort as he heaved the large door open. Inside, there was nothing but blackness. Bun felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end; the bathroom was much friendlier.

"It's kind of creepy in here, I know..." Sword said. "But we'll be safe, and that's what matters."

He withdrew a torch and matchbook, both of which he had found during their journey through the castle's hallways and awkwardly tucked into his belt. Now that they were back in the castle working torches were thankfully plentiful, prepared with flammable materials, not soaked down with rain, and never too far away from an easy way to light them. Sword never realized how much he'd appreciate such simple technology until that moment. He lit the torch, casting a fiery glow around them, and entered the chamber first. Fumu and Bun, with Blade hopping in step with them, warily followed behind him.

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden stood in the dining hall of King Dedede. The two were still breathing heavily, barely over their first battle, when they suddenly heard a loud thud against the dining room's door. Both raised their weapons in readiness, just as the door burst open. A flood of spear-wielding Waddle Dees burst through, pushing and shoving against each other in their haste to get in. Meta Knight held Galaxia high, the sword sensing its master's intent and glowing brightly. He aimed right at the advancing crowd and fired a sword beam, the blast sending a group of Waddle Dees flying in all directions. Other Waddle Dees stepped over their fallen comrades, brandishing their spears. Shieldmaiden rushed into the group with her shield out, bowling over several more. Tiny wisps of Dark Matter began to float from the Waddle Dees who were too wounded to battle. The room began to fill up more and more as the Waddle Dees filtered into the room, hopping on the table and crawling over the chairs like a swarm of insects. The two Star Warriors backed up slowly, the advancing crowd of Waddle Dees forming an impenetrable wall of spears. The two combined could handle several at once, even small groups, but every single guard in the castle's forces had been summoned by Dark Matter at the same time.

"There's too many of them!" Shieldmaiden shouted as she held up her shield, spear attacks bouncing off her buckler and armor in all directions.

Meta Knight nodded between parrying blows with his sword. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the dining hall's open window.

"We have to fly" he said, swinging his sword in a broad arc to keep several attackers at bay. He turned around and faced the window, throwing his arm forward to cast another sword beam. The blast forced the Waddle Dees who advanced behind them to flee, leaving a briefly cleared path through the flood of guards.

"Go!" Meta Knight cried, dashing through the cleared path of Waddle Dee guards and barreling through the window.

As his round form began to fall, his cape instantaneously transformed into wings. Straining against gravity, he angled out his descent into a controlled dive and sailed onto a balcony several floors below. Shieldmaiden followed suit, feathered wings spreading as soon as she jumped out of the window. The Waddle Dees crowded at the window, possessed eyes glowing purple as they all shoved at each other in an attempt to witness where the Star Warriors went.

Meta Knight landed on the balcony, panting. Shieldmaiden landed shortly afterwards, gliding in an unsteady rocking motion before falling to the ground in a heap rather than landing gently. Meta Knight looked down curiously, seeing his own blood drip onto the stone floor; in the heat of battle, he didn't even realize he had been punctured several times. Shieldmaiden had a wound in one of her wings that hindered her ability to fly well, the feathered appendages being the only unarmored part of her body besides her eyes.

"We can't keep this up forever" she stated glumly.

Meta Knight's eyes glowed fiercely, though he said nothing in response. He knew she was right.

"We cannot back down" he said, voice wilting as the adrenaline wore off and the pain from his wounds began to hit him. "We have to neutralize Dark Matter on the ground as much as possible while Kirby does so from the air."

Shieldmaiden nodded, holding her shield out in front of her. They both remained on the castle balcony, wounded but not willing to run, and waited for the flood of Waddle Dees to follow them outside. Already they saw their foes disappear from the dining hall's window. Below them, visible against the dark green grass of the countryside, was a horde of thin, brown bodies. Already the Cappies were flooding out from the village and storming towards the castle, every single possessed individual responding to its dark master's call like ants rushing out of the hill to protect their queen.

Shieldmaiden looked up to the black sky, cyan eyes dimming. Even if they could knock out every single possible host for Dark Matter in all of Dreamland while somehow surviving the onslaught themselves, the being would at best be stalled for a time. If Kirby wasn't able to stop Dark Matter with the power of its relic, they were doomed.

Kirby flew through the air on Warp Star. Without having passengers to worry about, he was able to push his celestial vehicle into high gear. Zipping through the sky faster than one could blink he hurtled towards the center of Dark Matter, which still lurked over Pupu village.

Dark Matter's tendrils sensed his presence as he passed and tried to grip him; however, any time one managed to touch Warp Star it would be seared into black smoke. Kirby's mysterious relic protected him as he flew.

Within minutes, the young boy reached the epicenter of Dark Matter. The black presence had grown until it dominated over the entire village, slowly swirling in a huge circle as if it were a hurricane. The large red-ringed eye opened, emerging from its center, to focus on the intrusion. As it watched Kirby fly towards it, its pupil dilated. It sensed a strange aura around the tiny creature, something far more threatening than a mere weapon. Its eye could see it, a wide field of divine power surrounding Kirby that was invisible to the eyes of living creatures. Dark Matter's eye constricted to a tiny dot. Slowly it descended from its place in the center of the vortex, the black clouds that surrounded it clinging to its form and slowly wisping away. From Kirby's point of view it almost looked as if the massive cloud was giving birth, the large, black form with an unblinking eye in its center slowly descending from its cloud home.

Dark Matter then turned to face Kirby, whose speed slowed slightly as he watched his enemy. A ring of strange, tan growths suddenly sprouted in a neat ring around the circumference of its round form. Its eye focused on Kirby, unblinking. Slowly, Dark Matter floated towards him.

Kirby stared at Dark Matter, feeling a foreign and unusual feeling for the creature. Anger. He was deeply angry that this thing had taken over his adopted homeland. He was angry that it hurt his friends and dared to possess Sword. Angry that they had to survive dangerous conditions in the jungle just to retrieve a power source to stop it. The anger in him boiled and grew, turning into a full blown rage. His eyes began to take on the glow of the relic, dimly glowing gold from within but advancing to a full bright shine if they were two flashlights. The golden mist began to sweep around him and Warp Star again, fully visible as it was before. As Kirby focused, feeling compelled to channel all of his anger at the being staring at him, the relic in his hand began to change. It morphed in his hand, the metal turning hot and almost liquid-like for a brief second as it slid past his skin on his hand. The relic had transformed into a scepter, the fused golden disc sitting on top and glowing so brightly that from a distance it looked like a second sun. Kirby willed it so. He pictured all of his energy being transferred to the scepter, to the disc on top of the scepter, and willed it to smite Dark Matter down. He wanted Dark Matter obliterated.

The newly-formed scepter responded to his will, as quickly and effortlessly as if it were an extension of his arm. The power felt as if it flew through his arm into the scepter. The bright energy on top began to glow brighter, a white flame erupting from the top of the disc. Kirby then shouted a war cry and thrust the newly-formed scepter forward. The fireball of divine light flew towards the air at light speed, hitting Dark Matter before it could react.

Dark Matter's ethereal 'body' shook violently from the impact, several of its tan growths splintering off and plummeting to the ground. Its eye rolled upwards, body drifting listlessly for several seconds. Kirby advanced closer, frowning deeply, as his scepter charged up again.

Dark Matter then snapped back to attention, eyes dilated. It shot a beam of black lightning out of its eye, the blast hitting Kirby before he could register it. Warp Star veered off course, causing Kirby to be distracted from his shot and having no choice but to cling to the vehicle. He focused on Warp Star, straightening himself after several seconds. Dark Matter sensed that his attack worked and fired several more shots, the lightning cracking through the air as if they were in a thunderstorm. Kirby, whose mind was focused on defending, threw up a golden, swirling orb around himself and Warp Star without realizing it. The blow still rocked him, but he was able to stay on course. The shield faded and Kirby's glowing gaze hardened, the fire forming at the tip of the scepter again.

Dark Matter glared at Kirby before its body shook slightly, the remaining pieces of its tan growths flying off of him in all directions with the force of a bullet. Dark Matter was careful to aim several of the growths in his direction, each piece being twice as large as Kirby himself and hard as a boulder. Kirby angled his Warp Star until it was nearly vertical, using the same force that he used to keep Blade stable to keep himself from slipping off. One growth missed him by inches, a flash of brown entering his vision before it blew off beside Warp Star and tumbled into the countryside below them.

Kirby's brow furrowed. He charged his scepter, the brilliant flames blowing off of the top of the scepter as if it were a torch, and fired several more blows at him. Dark Matter tried to dodge, but the flames were too quick. One hit him after the other, the white hot fire illuminating the inside of his body in a brief flash as if it were through a veil. Dark Matter's speed slowed to a stop. Its eye rolled upwards before shutting. The black ball of mass began to quiver, small explosions erupting from random parts of its surface. Kirby realized what was going to happen and flew back a good distance. Dark Matter began to glow red and black, like the surface of the sun. It then exploded. A blast flew through the air, the shockwave causing Warp Star to tremble so violently that Kirby shut his eyes and clung to it. The heat from the blast seared his skin, causing him to cry out in pain. After a few seconds, the roar of the explosion dimmed to a rumble. Cautiously, Kirby slowly opened one eye. What he saw made his jaw hang open.

Dark Matter was gone. However, in the blast site there was what appeared to be a small hole. Through this hole, Kirby could see strange colors shifting like a kaleidoscope – greens, purples, blues, the faint twinkle of stars. It was as if he had knocked a hole in a wall and was peering through the other side, into a new room. The transformed relic, which he still held in his quaking hand, still glowed brightly. The sky was still black. In his heart, Kirby could still sense that something was still wrong. Dark Matter's presence hadn't been eradicated.

Slowly, cautiously, Kirby approached the portal. As he got closer, he watched the sky around him begin to blur. Everything seemed to get sucked into it the closer he got, as if it were swallowing the sky itself. Kirby felt the pull growing against him, as if he were at the mercy of an enormous vacuum. Heart pounding, Kirby held tightly onto Warp Star and the relic as he slipped through the portal. The hole then shrank, growing more and more tiny, until it winked out of existence.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Kirby opened his eyes. He was still suspended on Warp Star, still clutching the relic in his hand. He looked around him, confused. He floated, suspended, in a vast void with nothing in all directions. He saw strangely beautiful colors flicker in and out of his vision, pale reds, purples, greens and blues, all against a dark background of indeterminate color. Tiny white stars flickered in the distance. Kirby's head began to throb. His stomach felt strange all of a sudden, his mind wandering.

He eased himself into a slow pace on Warp Star, trying to figure out where he was. His body began to feel more and more strange as he traveled deeper into the strange realm. He began to sweat profusely, as if he were in a sauna, even though the temperature around him was cool. His eyes darted back and forth. He saw strange shadows dancing in and out of the far edges of his vision. The Star Warrior held his sceptre up threateningly at nothing.

The shadows playing at the edge of his vision grew until he swore there was something out there, just waiting out of sight to get him. At times he heard faint, distorted voices; high-pitched laughter, unintelligible whispers. Kirby felt increasingly uncomfortable.

Dead center in his vision, a white dot appeared. The white dot grew and grew, becoming so massive that it towered over him. Two white wings with red tips swept forward, thin trails of red blood dripping off the feathers and falling into the bottomless void beneath them both. The whispers grew louder, the iridescent streams of color off in the distance beginning to vibrate. A single eye, blood red, opened in the center of the white mass. Kirby held the sceptre over his head, whimpering, as his world began to sway back and forth. It was almost as if what he was witnessing, where he was, was too much for his mind to comprehend. Though he didn't know its name, he was in the grip of the creature known as 02.

Kirby felt a force within his tortured mind again, like the one he had felt in the jungle. This time it was far stronger, slamming into him with a force so great that it caused him to cry aloud. He could feel his mind being torn apart, as if there was a demon seed in his brain ripping away at his sanity. He shook his head violently, overwhelmed by the chaos. Dreams, memories, random passing thoughts all began to muddle and blur in his head, a cacophony of images and noise growing to a deafening volume as the world his eyes saw distorted before him. The thing inside him grew, invisible threads weaving their way through his mind and feeding on his memories. His darkest emotions - fear, pain, anger – surfaced in response to the assault, and as they did the force inside him seemed to feed on it and grow stronger, amplifying his suffering. Kirby's closed eyes squeezed tightly. He realized what was happening, that his grasp on reality itself was slipping. He shut everything else in his mind off, focusing on nothing but the relic. He willed it to protect him, to drive the evil away. Slowly, his entire body shaking from the effort, the relic coursed through his body and into his mind. It grew within, the inner warmth comforting him. Kirby opened his bleary eyes to the vibrating, chaotic world around him. It was then that he noticed a bolt of crimson blood flying towards him, shot from the eye itself.

Kirby waved his arms frantically before tilting the Warp Star just out of its reach, the vehicle operating wrongly under his addled mind and turning in a strange way as if he were drunk. 02 shot more strange bolts of bloody energy at him, forcing the Star Warrior to dodge again and again. All this time his mind was still screaming, feeling now as if dark shadowy hands were pulling at his body, scratching his sides and digging its nails into his skin. Kirby resisted the will to bat the shadows away, focusing on nothing but his scepter and the hellish monster that floated in front of him. He charged his scepter and managed to shoot, the beam of holy fire flying towards the white creature. The being hardly flinched as the beam hit him, though it reflexively shut its red eye. Kirby noticed this and, desperately trying to reign in his frantic mind, charged a second shot but aimed for its eye.

The beam hit 02's eye, causing it to reel in pain. Kirby held onto Warp Star as he thought he felt it drop from underneath him, but it hadn't moved. He felt dizzy and increasingly ill, as if he were trapped on an intense carnival ride but couldn't stop it. He focused. Eyes glowing fiercely, he continued to lob shot after shot of energy at 02.

02 blinked in time to miss several, but still got hit in the eye. Kirby felt a wordless, soundless scream echo through his mind and body, causing his limbs to vibrate. 02 then raised its wings. From its bottom half, a long green tentacle snaked out. This was followed by two more, each one covered in long, hooked spines. Kirby shook his head rapidly again, unsure if what he was looking at was real or another hallucination. The vines then flew through the air towards him, cracking the air like a whip. Kirby dodged several of them, but the third one managed to gash his side. Kirby screamed as the hooked barbs dragged across his pink flesh, a bit of blood whipping out of the wound. Tears stung his eyes, and the pink Star Warrior was forced to crouch on Warp Star. He lifted his quaking hand, the relic still in it, and fired energy beams at the vines. One by one, the undulating tendrils were shot and burned into nothingness.

02 glared at Kirby, unblinking. Without warning it then slashed its wings forward, the bloody tips of its feathers flying towards Kirby as if they were shurikens. The huge feathers were so large that he barely had any time to move; he banked right on Warp Star so hard that he fell off, his jumbled mind unable to concentrate enough to keep him secure on his vehicle.

Kirby tumbled downwards into the blackness, screaming and flailing his arms. He tried to inhale, but the air rushed by too fast for him to get enough air to fly. Warp Star flew off to rescue him, catching the Star Warrior a few dozen feet below where he had fallen. Kirby hit Warp Star so hard that he nearly blacked out, scrabbling with one hand to stay secure on the star as his other hand weakly gripped the relic.

02 continued its relentless assault, shooting another bloody bolt at him. Kirby was clipped by the blast. He felt the bloody force hit him, spraying him with the noxious fluid. It got into his eyes, his mouth, burning like acid. Kirby reeled in pain, overwhelmed. He managed to open one burning eye, glassy with tears, and aimed for the red blur that stood out amongst the white mass. A huge gout of flame erupted from the scepter's tip before a beam of light flew towards 02, hitting it dead center. A single line of blood began to run from 02's eye. Kirby then pressed forward on Warp Star, bleeding from his side, eyes still half-shut and burning. As he flew closer to 02, the chaos within and outside of his mind grew. Heart pounding, the young Star Warrior held his scepter high. He then flew right into 02, suffering a direct hit from another bolt of searing blood in the process, and held his scepter forward. He rammed into 02, Warp Star colliding with its body as the scepter sank into its gigantic red eye.

02 stiffened, wings quivering. It slowly rocked backwards, Kirby still holding onto the scepter for dear life as it remained lodged in the creature. 02 then twitched, spasmed, and exploded. Everything Kirby could see was white; there was no sound. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out as the blast hit him. His world winked out into blackness.

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden continued to fight the onslaught of Waddle Dees. At first, they were able to keep them back. Meta Knight then heard the distinctive sound of a sword unsheathing and turned to see the Captain Waddle Doo, single eye angrily focusing on him. The Waddle Doo charged through the crowd, bowling over his own Waddle Dee allies, and jumped with his sword raised high in the air. Meta Knight dodged, blinking in and out of reality in less than a second through his cape. Waddle Doo fell to the ground and skidded, turning to face Meta Knight with its single brow furrowed in anger. A black crackling energy manifested itself in front of the eye and shot forward, catching Meta Knight by surprise and flinging him back several feet. The Waddle Doo's natural beam abilities were corrupted by Dark Matter, shooting shadowy lightning instead.

Shieldmaiden noticed her comrade fall and charged forward with her shield, deflecting a second blow from them both. She then held her spear forward at the Waddle Doo, forcing him to withdraw his own sword in close melee range rather than firing more beams of energy. Shieldmaiden feinted before slamming him dead center with her shield, stunning and blinding the Waddle Doo into dropping his sword. Meta Knight rolled on the ground to dodge a spear point that shot downward from a Waddle Dee, standing back to his feet. He could no longer have every blow be carefully delivered to render unconsciousness rather than death; it was now a matter of his own survival. Eyes flashing, he swung his sword around and carved a deep wound into the Waddle Dee that attempted to stab him. The creature slumped forward, bleeding. More Waddle Dees, possessed and unable to feel fear, stepped over their fallen ally and rushed forward at Meta Knight. He continued to dodge, attack, dodge. He felt a spear point clip his side, bouncing off the edge of his mask but not before lightly piercing the exposed skin right beside it. Meta Knight continued to swing his sword, eyes going red, too pumped by rage and adrenaline to care.

The battered Star Warriors then heard the distinct sound of voices, shouting at them from under the balcony. Shieldmaiden looked over the edge to see the Cappy villagers, shaking their fists and brandishing random weapons such as knives, bats, and brooms. Several hopped onto the castle's walls and began to climb upwards towards them. As Shieldmaiden watched, she felt a sharp gust of wind as a bullet flew by her. Her eyes grew wide as she witnessed Chief Borun down below, aiming his gun upwards to fire at her. Shieldmaiden quickly ducked back into the balcony, just in time for the stunned Waddle Doo to recover and attack her again with his sword. She continued to bash him with her shield, trying desperately to knock him out without killing him.

All at one, they witnessed the sky flashing white. The black sky suddenly cleared, slowly thinning out like a spent rain cloud. Every single Waddle Dee, Cappy, and the Waddle Doo Captain paused, twitching violently, before falling over one by one. Black smoke oozed from them. Both Star Warriors flinched in surprise before lowering their weapons.

"He did it...Kirby did it." Meta Knight said, voice muted in awe.

Shieldmaiden breathed heavily, exhausted. "Thank the Stars" she said in a quavering voice.

She then looked over to Meta Knight and blanched. The veteran had several puncture wounds, one of which he was silently holding with an armored glove that was rapidly beginning to tint red. His eyes were dim. Shieldmaiden held a hand to her hidden mouth.

"Sir, you're hurt..."

Meta Knight wrapped his cape around himself, shutting his eyes. With the rush of battle fading, the pain was beginning to hit him hard but he would show no weakness. His eyes opened again, glowing a dim amber.

"Let's find Sword and the others, then go check on Kirby."

"Agreed" Shieldmaiden said with a nod. The two then proceeded into the bowels of King Dedede's castle, stepping over the fainted Waddle Dee bodies and calling out the names of their friends.

Warp Star blinked into existence in the sky where the portal was, Kirby's limp body on it. The star, with zero control from its master, descended rapidly until it tilted forward and sent Kirby and the relic tumbling off of it. Kirby and the two objects tumbled towards the ground, free-falling. They then hit, each one a few meters away from each other. Kirby landed roughly on the grass, bouncing and rolling to a stop. He laid still.

Sword, Blade, Fumu, Bun, and the two Star Warriors stood outside the entrance to Dedede's castle. The Star Warrior's voices ringing through the halls of the keep allowed Sword's group to come out of hiding, and they were quickly reunited. All six had their eyes trained to the sky, straining, trying to find a sign of their friend.

"He should've been back by now..." Bun said, frowning.

"...There!" Fumu pointed at the sky, the others following her gaze. In their sights was Warp Star sharply descending towards the ground in a chaotic, spinning free-fall.

Fumu's heart leaped to her throat. "Kirby's in trouble!"

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden both spread their wings, taking off wordlessly and flying as fast as they could toward the site. Shieldmaiden lagged a good distance behind Meta Knight due to her wounded wing. Fumu and Bun followed them on foot. Sword rested a hand on Blade's shoulder as they watched the group go, heart growing heavy at the sight. With Blade's leg and side injury he couldn't keep up, and Sword wasn't about to leave him alone.

Meta Knight reached the scene first. Folding his wings, the knight descended rapidly before running over to Kirby's body. His eyes tracked over his pink, round form frantically. He picked up Kirby's limp arm with his gloved hand, holding it for a few seconds, before letting it drop. He then turned away.

"Sir Meta Knight!" Fumu cried as she reached the scene several minutes later, with Shieldmaiden and Bun shortly behind her. She ran up to Kirby, holding him under the shoulders and shaking him.

"Kirby...Kirby, wake up. Wake up!" Fumu screamed, voice raising in alarm with every word.

Bun put a knuckle in his mouth and bit, shoulders shuddering. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"No..." Shieldmaiden spoke softly, dropping her weapons and kneeling down beside him.

Meta Knight remained silent, his back turned to them all.

"No...no! This isn't happening!" Fumu shouted, her own eyes blurring with tears. She then scrambled to her feet and ran a few feet away, kneeling on the ground. She then ran back, sobbing openly, with the relic in her hand.

Kirby's body started to tremble, his pink skin flushing red. His limp body began to shake, limbs jerking reflexively, as an odd series of pops could be heard from the group. Shieldmaiden saluted his form before backing away. She said something in another language, casting her teary gaze upwards.

"It is his time to rejoin the stars" she stated.

"Fumu...Fumu, get out of there" Meta Knight cautioned, his deep voice sounding weary and broken.

Both Star Warriors knew what was happening. When one of their species passed in a violent way, their bodies would explode and float off into the heavens as cosmic dust. The process was almost instantaneous after death, and sometimes happened to the poor creatures while they were still alive and in the process of dying. Meta Knight knew that if Kirby was no more, Fumu could get hurt by standing so close.

"No!" Fumu said, hands clenched into fists and teeth grit. "Not like this. I won't let it."

She picked up the relic, which had reverted into a round golden disc, in her hands. She held it, hands shaking violently, and closed her eyes.

"Please don't let this happen...please...please." she stammered, clutching the relic tight and holding it over Kirby's body. She wished with every fiber of her being that this could be reverted, that Kirby could be saved somehow. Kirby's body continued to redden, twitching more violently. Fumu remained by his side, head dipped and crying. She placed the relic on his convulsing body and held it there, body wracked with sobs.

Fumu suddenly stiffened, as if hit by a lightning bolt. Her green eyes began to glow brightly. She looked at Kirby's fallen body, her own face blank and tears quickly drying, as a strange gold mist began to envelop her. She pressed the relic into Kirby's chest, the golden energy enveloping his tortured body as well. Kirby's twitching slowed, quaking limbs falling limp. His deeply flushed skin began to go pink. The deep gash wound he had sustained slowly stopped bleeding. Fumu held the relic there, both bathed in golden light. Fumu then fell over onto the grass.

"Sis!" Bun cried, running over to Fumu. Fumu looked up at him, her eyes green again. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

Meta Knight watched her, before turning his gaze to Kirby. The pink creature's violent trembling stopped. His chest rose and fell.

Meta Knight's eyes sparked. "He lives."

"Kirby? Kirby!" Fumu exclaimed, throwing his arms around the creature and hugging him. Bun did the same, both crying and burying their faces in him. Shieldmaiden stuck her gloved hand through her helmet to wipe her eyes. She looked to Meta Knight, who quickly looked away from the group and cast his gaze at the grass below him while blinking rapidly several times. Though it could've been a trick of the light, she could swear that his eyes looked glassy.

Kirby stirred. His eyes slowly blinked open, dim and half-lidded. He looked up to see Fumu and Bun's tear streaked faces glancing down at him. He made a small smile, and his hand twitched in an attempt to wave. He felt foggy minded and had a terrible headache, but he was happy to see his friends.

The two gently helped Kirby up, who managed to stagger to his feet. He shook his head, still foggy, before waving to the other two Star Warriors. Meta Knight waved back, a rare gesture for the stoic Star Warrior. He then turned and spread his wings.

"We need to get back to Sword and Blade" he said softly.

Kirby nodded and walked over to Warp Star, holding the vehicle by one pointed tip with his hand. He leveled it out before hopping on board, gesturing for Fumu and Bun to join him.

The two children climbed onto Warp Star as Shieldmaiden and Meta Knight spread their wings.

"We'll have a lot of explaining to do to King Dedede, huh?" Bun mused.

"If anyone asks? A really, really big party." Shieldmaiden suggested, her voice light with mirth.

"I think he'd buy it" Fumu added, wiping her recent tears away and managing a grin.

"We need to find the doctor and get him to place a house call in Dedede's castle" Shieldmaiden added, casting her glance to Meta Knight. Fumu put her hands to her mouth as she noticed the blood; she had been so preoccupied with Kirby, and Meta Knight had done such a good job keeping them concealed within his cape, that she didn't even realize how wounded he was.

"Wow, you weren't kidding."

"I'm fine", Meta Knight said with a hint of annoyed protest in his voice. He had been through many battles. He had suffered worse. His gaze then looked off to the side. "Although...Blade is still in need of one."

Warp Star slowly, shakily lifted off the ground as the Star Warriors took to the air.

"To the castle!" Fumu shouted, pointing forward.

"Poyo" Kirby said with a nod, whisking them off into the air.


	23. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Weeks had passed since Dark Matter had been vanquished by Kirby. The castle's dining hall was destroyed, but the rest of the castle as well as Pupu village were left remarkably intact. Though exhausted, dirty, and hungry, much of Dreamland's population survived as Dark Matter had only held them captive for about 3 days. The most loss came from Dedede's castle, as some Waddle Dee guards were inevitably slain by Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden as they fought for their own lives.

The first few days after Dark Matter's reign were difficult. The village's one and only doctor, Dr. Yabui, was so overwhelmed by the amount of ill and wounded patients that he enlisted the aid of volunteers. Among them were Kirby, Fumu, Bun, a large number of the castle's Waddle Dees, and some of the healthier Cappies including Chief Borun and Mabel.

The wounded warriors were given special treatment by Dr. Yabui. Meta Knight and Blade were bedridden, and Shieldmaiden was rendered flightless for weeks. Sword was bruised and battered, but his own injuries were relatively minor compared to the others. King Dedede and Escargon suffered as well. Escargon had an aching back even after receiving a full shell replacement, and Dedede himself had mysterious stomach pains and nightmares long after his wounds were treated.

As time wore on, the resilient and endlessly optimistic citizens of Dreamland recovered fully.

Not long after Dark Matter's passing, the decision was made amongst the group to hide the relic. They had attempted to destroy it, but after repeated attempts the strange disc proved to be indestructible. It could not even be split back into two halves. Kirby made every attempt to avoid the relic after it served its purpose; he could feel it slip into his mind invitingly, tempting him to use his power to gain whatever he wanted, and it deeply disturbed him.

Fumu and Kirby flew together on Warp Star, the deep blue ocean stretching out underneath them for miles in every direction. Fumu chose to come along to supervise Kirby as he discarded the relic, as Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden were both still too wounded to perform long-distance flight. In time, Warp Star's pace slowed to a cruising speed. Fumu squinted, hair whipping into her face repeatedly.

"This should be good, Kirby" Fumu said, looking down. She had chosen this particular spot on purpose.

They had not seen land in any direction for a long time, and the part of the ocean they were hovering above was known as being some of the deepest water on the planet. There was no place more dangerous or desolate in all of Popstar than the abyssal depths, the water being so deep that it was impossible to swim into and dangerous even with a high-tech submarine due to the immense water pressure. There was nothing sentient or even remotely intelligent lurking beneath the water under them; unless tiny deep-sea fish somehow gained sentience, the relic would remain safely undisturbed for a very long time.

"Poyo" Kirby replied with a nod.

Deep blue eyes peered over the edge of Warp Star, looking down into the endless sea. He felt the relic, clutched tightly in his hand, beginning to tug at his mind again. Did he really want to throw it away? Did he really want to lose such power, the power to heal and even resurrect as well as to protect all of Popstar?

Kirby frowned. No. This relic wasn't right. Whatever good it could accomplish was far outweighed by the sheer indomitable evil it could commit if used by the wrong hands. No one was safe from its lure, not even the pure-minded Kirby. It was simply too dangerous for any mortal to possess. Hand shaking, Kirby's hand reared back before he flung the relic away with all of his might. The tiny yellow disc spun like a frisbee in the air, sailing far forward until landing with a barely perceptible splash into the water below them. It then sank slowly, the golden light quickly swallowed up by the waves. It was gone.

Fumu wiped a cold sweat from her brow, sighing. She was glad to be free of that strange object, even though it had helped her and the others so much. Kirby watched the spot where the relic sank, frowning, as Warp Star gently swayed back and forth in the sea breeze.

"It's over" Fumu said softly, putting a hand on Kirby's back. "We can go home now."

Kirby said nothing. Slowly, he wheeled Warp Star around before taking off.


	24. Extra Chapter

**Extra Chapter**

**A/N Warning: This chapter is the shippiest and features mild adult themes. It's also not integral to the main story...it's sort of a bonus chapter, which is why I placed it after the epilogue.  
**

Meta Knight stood in the courtyard of Dedede's castle. He had recovered enough to walk around, and the second he was physically able to he escaped the confines of his room. There was nothing he disliked more than feeling helpless, and for a long time after his injury a throng of Waddle Dees made absolutely sure he didn't go anywhere. When Dr. Yabui finally relaxed his orders, Meta Knight began to walk. It would be a while before he could exert himself strongly in the form of training or flying, but at least he wasn't confined to bed anymore. The Star Warrior took it slow; he walked up and down the halls outside of his room and visited the rooms of his friends. Blade was even worse off then he was, and lamented being glued to bed and unable to do anything.

"Can't eat, can't go to the bathroom, can't even breathe on my own! I'm followed everywhere by a bunch of nurses." Blade pouted, sitting up in a bed propped with many pillows. Sword sat next to him, having never left his side since they first landed back in Dreamland. He snickered.

"At least you're still breathing" Sword remarked.

Blade folded his arms, looking out the window. "Eh...you're right. Could be worse."

Meta Knight nodded silently, eyes tinting pink. Having been in a similar predicament until recently, he understood Blade's frustration.

After visiting his wounded comrade, Meta Knight stepped outside. He walked through the grass, cape wrapped around him, before stopping under a large tree. The veteran leaned against the tree carefully, casting his cold yellow gaze forward. In time, he saw a small golden-armored being walk towards him. Pale blue eyes looked up at Meta Knight, the creature lifting her arm to wave at him briefly. Meta Knight waved back. He felt a brief pang of sorrow watching Shieldmaiden walk towards him; he knew that she would fly if she could, and that her wound still prevented it. He hoped the damage wasn't permanent.

As Shieldmaiden walked closer to Meta Knight, his eyes flashed. His heartbeat began to quicken as she neared, finding her cyan eyes both equally pleasing and painful to look at. Since their adventure together, his feelings had only grown; yet, he still did everything in his power to conceal them. He respected her as a friend and a fellow Galaxy Soldier. Just because she was a female, particularly one he had an attraction to, didn't mean that their relationship should change. He wanted to remain neutral.

Shieldmaiden walked up to him, dipping the upper portion of her body in a light bow. "Greetings, Sir."

Meta Knight lowered his gaze, clearing his throat. He could feel the butterflies begin to form in his stomach and grimaced, a light blush grazing his blue cheeks. His yellow eyes glowed steadily behind his expressionless mask, revealing nothing.

"Greetings" Meta Knight replied, his deep voice level.

"Shall we?" Shieldmaiden asked. She held a small basket in her left hand, the top stuffed with a red and white checkered blanket. The two had agreed to a picnic several days before, and had waited until the day with the perfect weather. Meta Knight gave a light nod in response, turning to face away from her.

"Come" he said. "I know the perfect spot."

Meta Knight allowed Shieldmaiden to walk first before beginning to move. As he eased into a walk, falling in step beside her, he took the picnic basket from Shieldmaiden's hand. Always chivalrous, he hated the idea of her having to be the one carrying their food.

"Allow me" he said politely as he removed the basket from her hand.

"Why, thank you!" Shieldmaiden said, appreciative of the gesture. Meta Knight said nothing, dipping his head slightly in response.

The two Star Warriors walked through the grass. Though both were wounded and stuck on the ground, neither minded the walk – it simply made their enjoyable trip last longer. Meta Knight walked quietly in step with her, both of them silent except for the light rustle of their armor as they moved. He felt a myriad of emotions, each fleeting thought pulling him in a different direction. He remained quiet, lost in his own head.

Shieldmaiden smiled underneath her helmet. She knew that Meta Knight wasn't a big talker, and figured she'd speak first.

"Lovely weather today, isn't it?"

"Indeed, it is" Meta Knight replied after a short pause.

"I'm glad we got the opportunity to...get away for a bit" she said, chuckling lightly.

Meta Knight inhaled deeply as he thought of what to say in response, feeling as if a weight rested on his tongue. What did she mean by that? Did she mean that she was glad to get away from Dedede's castle, or that she was glad that they could be alone together? He squeezed his eyes shut for a second before blinking rapidly, knocking himself out of it. He felt silly for ruminating on such things.

"Um, ah...yes, me too" he replied, after realizing he hadn't responded for a few seconds.

"The Waddle Dee nurses wouldn't even let me move my entire right side where the hurt wing was for two weeks! Ridiculous! I'm fine" Shieldmaiden ranted. She then went to stretch, lifting both arms in the air with her wings naturally lowering behind her, when her right ring twitched. She let out a small cry in pain and folded her wings tightly against her in response before straightening back up, all in the span of a second, trying to save face.

Meta Knight winced. He could tell that she was independent and had a strong sense of pride, and that hearing that she needed to be careful was the last thing she needed after weeks of Waddle Dees babying her. Still, if what just happened was any indication, than Dr. Yabui had the right idea. He chose his next words cautiously.

"Dr. Yabui does have your best interest at heart..."

Shieldmaiden rolled her eyes slightly, sighing. "Yeah, he does..." Her eyes lifted upwards towards her wing, which still had an ugly bulge where the spear impaled her. "It won't be forever."

The two continued to chat as they walked together, crossing through the beautiful meadows on the outskirts of the castle. In time, they reached Meta Knight's spot. The top of a small hill overlooked a wide, empty field, the top of the hill sheltered by a large tree. The spot allowed them a perfect spot to both gaze out into the meadow and have shade from the sun.

Shieldmaiden put a gloved hand to her face. "Wow...you're right. This really is perfect."

Meta Knight smiled underneath his mask. He had quite a few select 'spots' both inside and outside of the castle, where there were few visitors. They were his favorite places to be alone, to think. However, for some reason, he felt compelled to share this spot with her. Perhaps it was because when she first brought up the idea of a picnic, he knew that the spot would be both sheltered from the sun and far away enough from the castle to spare them any interruptions by Dedede.

In time, the two reached the spot. Meta Knight set the basket down, reaching into it to withdraw the blanket. He held the blanket in the air and waved it flat several times, gently lowering it down against the grass. He then began to withdraw various food items from the basket. Shieldmaiden had packed quite a bit into the deceptively small basket; fruits, salads, several sandwiches, and bottled water. Meta Knight felt around in the basket before feeling the silver metal on the top of his glove clink against hard glass. Brow raised, he slowly withdrew the bottle and was surprised to see it was red wine. He held the bottle in his hands and looked to Shieldmaiden, eyes wide.

Shieldmaiden's smirk was hidden. "I wasn't sure if you drank, Sir, but figured I would bring it along as an option."

Meta Knight said nothing, slowly setting the wine bottle down. He partook in alcohol rarely, far less than the younger Sword and Blade. The idea of introducing something to his body that dulled focus, that could lead to embarrassing situations beyond one's control, was not typically something he went for. Still, as the red bottle leaned against the basket, the thought was tempting. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy a glass now and then, particularly wine, and red happened to be his favorite.

The two reached out for the food spread out before them. Meta Knight sat with his back towards the tree, while Shieldmaiden sat closer to the basket. He chose a piece of fruit to eat first, an apple. Lifting his mask just enough to allow himself to eat with one hand, the Star Warrior took a bite out of the fruit. He felt strangely self-conscious, eating in an almost dainty manner.

Shieldmaiden, feeling more at ease, reached for one of the salads with a fork. One gloved hand lowered the portion of her armor that served as both a breastplate and mouth guard, revealing the lower half of her face. Meta Knight watched her eat out of the corner of his eye.

The two chatted idly as they ate, mostly about everything that happened and how Dreamland and its citizens were coming along. Meta Knight allowed Shieldmaiden to do most of the talking , feeling increasingly awkward despite enjoying the picnic and her company. He again eyed the wine bottle; perhaps a glass would soothe his nerves.

Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden finished their respective appetizers and moved on to their meal, each having a sandwich as the main course. Afterwards, Meta Knight reached for the bottle of wine. Shieldmaiden's eyes tinted pink, barely suppressing a giggle. The Galaxy Soldier Army's men were notorious for their alcohol-induced adventures, with many old masters seeming to have as many embarrassing bar stories as they did tales of past battles. She knew he couldn't resist.

Meta Knight opened the wine with an opener, holding a glass in his hand. He then reached a second glass to pour them both drinks, handing the first full glass to her. Shieldmaiden looked him in the eyes, smirk visible with the section of armor covering her mouth pulled down, before sipping the drink. Meta Knight noticed the way she looked at him and quickly looked away, feeling anxiety well up within him. He lifted his mask slightly, taking a polite sip of his own.

In time the two both drained their glasses, conversing politely as they did so. Meta Knight felt the wine begin to hit him; he suddenly felt light, airy. His nagging anxiety began to melt away, the Star Warrior feeling more comfortable and at ease. Shieldmaiden grinned, herself feeling far less inhibited than the stoic male even when sober. She watched his body language curiously, noticing that as the wine hit him he seemed to talk more.

Inevitably, the two began to talk about what they had both recently endured. Meta Knight told Shieldmaiden about how Dr. Yabui had kept him nearly bedridden for weeks on end. Shieldmaiden stroked her chin as he talked. Her eyes dimmed.

"At least you were alive and able to fight again that day", she murmured. "It got really ugly when we were getting that second piece of the relic...in the water..."

Meta Knight looked away. He took another slow drink of wine, appearing to down a good deal more this time than the polite sips he had been taken before. Shieldmaiden frowned; it was obvious even without any emotion shown that the knight was still clearly shaken by the incident.

"Sorry" she added quickly, swirling the liquid around in her own glass.

"That's alright." Meta Knight replied in a low voice. His yellow eyes slowly lifted to meet hers. "You did save me, after all. I'm still deeply thankful for that."

"No worries!" Shieldmaiden said, the lowered armor allowing him to glimpse a light blush forming on her cheeks. "You saved me first, when I crash-landed here."

Meta Knight nodded, drinking a bit more wine. "All of us did." he said, the wine loosening his tongue and causing his usually carefully-chosen words to devolve into a ramble. "You were too heavy with your armor on, so Sword and Blade carried all of your gear while I took you to the castle."

Shieldmaiden nearly dropped her wine. "You _what?!_"

Meta Knight's eyes widened as he realized what he said. Despite the need for it to be done at the time, there was no way he could make the fact that he carried around her nude and unconscious body sound any less terrible. He quickly set his wine down and wrapped himself up in his cape, looking off into the distance. Both grew silent, each awkward second seeming to stretch out forever.

"Um..." Meta Knight shifted. "We had no choice. You were too heavy with armor on."

Shieldmaiden gazed down into her glass, wings lowering until they draped behind her. "That does make sense. I was wondering why I woke up like that...unarmored, in a strange place...it wasn't fun, but I understand why. Thank you."

Meta Knight nodded, cheeks burning. He cursed himself. Why did he bring that up? This is why he didn't drink often.

"You're welcome" he replied.

Shieldmaiden looked up after a few more quiet seconds. "It was a similar situation to when we retrieved the relic and you needed air. I didn't want to remove your armor, but there was no other way to give you mouth-to-mouth."

Meta Knight cringed at the memory. He didn't like to be seen without his mask on even under normal circumstances, and she had to see him half-drowned and passed out. He couldn't have imagined how awful he looked. A gloved hand slipped under his mask to rub his reddened cheeks self-consciously.

Shieldmaiden polished off her second wine glass and sat on the checkered blanket, swaying slightly in place. The wine had hit her a bit harder than him, perhaps because she was a bit smaller and lighter.

"If it makes you feel any better, Sir... I wasn't expecting what I saw under your mask. It doesn't even make sense why you wear it so often. You're...well, if you don't mind me saying, Sir, you're rather handsome."

Meta Knight nearly choked on his mouthful of wine. He then noisily swallowed it, the lump of liquid being forced down his throat. He looked down to the point where his yellow eyes weren't visible through the opening of his mask, gloved hand pounding the lower part of it where his chest was. That last gulp of wine settled wrong. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, and hadn't felt so embarrassed since he was a teenager. Still...the idea that she found him handsome, that the object of his attraction apparently felt that way upon seeing him, tickled him.

Shieldmaiden put a hand to her mouth at his reaction, her own face reddening. The stupid wine had let her tongue slip. "Oh, sorry! That was rude of me to say. I didn't mean to...uh..."

"No, it's quite alright" Meta Knight managed to say, wrapping up in his cape. He looked downwards, blush hidden. "Am I?"

Shieldmaiden felt her mouth run dry. Though she had been the one running her mouth all day, it was now she who was at a loss for words. She looked away, eyes closing under the rim of her armor.

"Ah...yes."

Meta Knight felt his heart hammer. He looked to her, finding her blushing admission shocking. All of this time he had been harboring feelings, and now the object of his secret desire was the one calling him attractive? He couldn't believe it. He turned his head away, still feeling deeply awkward. Her words echoed in his head, the Star Warrior's admission compelling him to make one of his own. He gulped reflexively and worked his jaw, feeling his voice try to run away from him.

"You are, as well."

He watched her out of the corner of his eye, feeling to shy to look at her directly. She put a hand to her mouth upon hearing him, white wings folding over her face to hide her until she looked like a ball of white feathers.

"Um...thank you." she managed to say after a few seconds, voice muffled from her wings. She had no idea this would happen.

Meta Knight reached for the wine, hand shaking slightly as he poured himself a third glass. He had felt better prepared for life-and-death battles than situations involving women like this. Drunk and flustered, the Star Warrior lifted his mask to quietly sip from his glass. He could sense a tension in the air, hanging thickly over them both, though neither had said anything after their previous exchange. They had both admitted they'd found each other attractive, the alcohol working as an impromptu truth serum, yet neither seemed to know what to say next.

Shieldmaiden scooched closer to him on the picnic blanket with her glass held out, indicating that she wished for more wine. Meta Knight eyed her warily, noticing that she was swaying slightly; their drinking had apparently hit her harder than him. He held the glass while it was still in her hand to steady it, reaching for the bottle and pouring more of the drink for her. To his surprise, Shieldmaiden did not back away after having received her wine. She leaned in closer than what was necessary to receive her drink, causing the older male to flinch. His heart pounded against his chest as she leaned in, his stomach tightening. Their eyes locked; in a fluid but gentle motion, Shieldmaiden leaned forward and kissed him on the mask.

Meta Knight felt his heart nearly stop, heart beating so fast he could hear it in his earholes. A deep blush spread across his hidden cheeks, a pleasant tingle racing through his body. He gulped after several seconds, looking at Shieldmaiden. The female had eased back while still holding her wine glass, face red, slightly turned away. Feeling emboldened by both her actions and his own inebriation Meta Knight leaned forward, lifting his mask until it rested on the top of his head as if it were a hat. Eyes glowing fiercely, he leaned in until he was only an inch from her face. After a brief pause, he moved in and locked lips with her in a gentle kiss. He then pulled away after several seconds, mouth open and panting slightly. Her lips were every bit as soft as he imagined. He leaned in to kiss her again, gloved hand snaking up her free arm.

"Hey, guys!"

"Fumu!" Meta Knight shouted, mask snapping back against his face and one arm wheeling as both Star Warriors scrambled apart. Shieldmaiden quickly snapped her mouthpiece up, hiding her own blushing face, and tossed the cup of freshly-poured wine into the nearby grass so that the young ones wouldn't see what she was drinking. A few meters away, Fumu and Kirby walked by.

"Fumu. Uh. Hi!" Shieldmaiden said, voice cracking as she quickly stuffed the empty wine bottle into the basket. "We were just finishing up a picnic!"

"Poyoyii!" Kirby said, eyes growing wide. He walked over to the picnic basket and stared at the scene. He didn't notice how Meta Knight sat with his back to everyone, or how Shieldmaiden awkwardly held the basket; all he had eyes for was the unused leftover salad, fruits, and other assorted spare foods.

Fumu put her hands on her hips. "Kirby..."

Shieldmaiden waved an arm, brain still foggy. "Oh no, it's okay. He can eat the rest if he wants to! Just...not what's in the basket." she added. She knew there was very little wine left but Kirby was light, small, and far too young to have even the slightest taste of alcohol.

"Poyo! Poyo, poyuu?" Kirby jumped for joy before looking to Fumu, eyes growing large and pleading.

Fumu sighed. She rubbed her temple with one hand, exasperated; she could never say no when he made that face.

"Well, they did say it was okay" the girl grumbled, face breaking into a grin. "Fine."

"Poyo!" Kirby cried. He then picked up the food with one arm at a time, everything even remotely edible on the picnic blanket disappearing into his gullet within seconds. He even ate Meta Knight's leftover apple core.

"Well, that was fun" Shieldmaiden said, a gloved hand self consciously rubbing the back of her head as she looked at the children. "We're going to pack up and head back."

She waved to Kirby and Fumu. "It was nice seeing you guys!"

"You too!" Fumu responded, waving back before gesturing to her small friend. "Come on, Kirby."

"Poy" Kirby replied with a nod. He turned to wave at Shieldmaiden and Meta Knight, who quietly packed up what little remained of the picnic. "Poyo, Poyoyii!"

Meta Knight turned, yellow expressionless eyes boring into Kirby. He gave a polite nod to him and Fumu as he slipped the rumpled blanket off of the grass.

"Farewell."

Fumu and Kirby then proceeded on their walk, crossing through the meadow to head towards a lake. For the first time in several minutes, Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden looked at each other directly. Both of them appeared to stare blankly, their true expressions hidden behind their armor. Shieldmaiden gently took the blanket from Meta Knight's hands and stuffed it into the basket.

"I think it's time to call it and go back to the castle" She said.

Meta Knight waved an arm. "You go on ahead. I'll see you later."

Shieldmaiden nodded, standing to her feet with the basket in one arm. She looked at him, the knight sitting on the grass while wrapped up in his cape and gazing silently out into the meadow. She then dipped her head to him politely and turned to leave.

As she walked down the hill, she overheard a deep voice call out.

"Kawasaki's tomorrow? At 6?"

Shieldmaiden's smile was hidden. "Sure."

Kirby walked back to his house alone. The sun was setting in Dreamland, crickets beginning to chirp in the grass. A cool evening breeze stirred the young boy as he walked slowly, admiring the sunset and the refreshing drop in temperature after a rather hot day. He had a lot of fun hanging out with Fumu, the two of them spending most of the day fishing. Even better, he got a free snack from the Star Warrior's picnic. Fumu even took him to the melon fields. Kirby patted his stomach; having eaten fish, a picnic's leftovers, and a bunch of melons, he was the closest to 'full' such a creature could possibly be. He sighed contentedly. When he was full, he got sleepy.

Kirby opened the door to his little home, swiping his green and yellow spotted night cap from a coat hanger. He hopped into bed and cuddled up against the blankets, face burying into his pillow. The warm orange glow of his house, lit by the setting sun's rays filtering through his window, began to darken to blue. He felt deeply comfortable, swaddled up in blankets like an infant. The relic was gone. Dark Matter was gone. He and the others had a new friend. Everything was good, as it should be.

Kirby's eyes slowly blinked, going fuzzy. They opened several times more before slowly shutting for good, the little one drifting off into a peaceful sleep.


End file.
